Little Haunted Maze of Horrors
by SplendentGoddess
Summary: Kagome's school is doing a haunted maze for Halloween. Working the maze is a chance for extra credit that, with Kagome's grades, she can't afford to miss. But what happens when Inuyasha's curiosity gets the better of him? Curiosity killed the *cat*
1. Extra Credit

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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><p>Original post date on MediaMiner: 1026/10

A/N:

Greetings and Happy Halloween! This particular short story is a collaboration piece between myself and He_Who_Shall_Live. We were just chitchatting in an IM one day and the subject got around to Halloween, then **BOOM**…the idea for this story was born. Bouncing the concept back and forth, I thought of some things, he thought of some others, and so despite his insistence that this is _my _story, I told him I would label it a collaborative piece, and so I am! So there! *Blows raspberries in He_Who_Shall_Live's direction*

Unlike 'Trick or Treat?', this three-shot was not designed to take place during any specific chapter of the manga. However, I am envisioning that Kagome and Inuyasha are aware of their feelings for each other by this point, even if they are not yet ready to admit to those feelings out loud. It takes place sometime after Kagome temporarily saved Kikyou from Naraku's miasma by healing her wounds underwater, but before Kikyou's final death. There are no more new jewel shards to be found and their mission consists solely of hunting Naraku. For the purposes of this story, Naraku is currently 'in hiding' again and things have been relatively slow going. It's the perfect time for Kagome to inform Inuyasha that she needs to go home again for a few days, especially since her school is running a 'festival' in her time that she needs to help them with over the weekend.

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Chapter 1 – Extra Credit

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"Feh, how long is this crap supposed to take?"

"Just for three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday." Kagome explained as she bartered with her companion for the time off. She had explained the calendar system of her time to Inuyasha long ago, when she'd first thrown out the foreign names for the days without thinking about it and he had been confused.

"I just need to go back one day early so that I can have time to prepare, so if I go home tomorrow morning, on Thursday, then that means I can come back on the fourth morning after tomorrow." she added.

"Feh…but the new moon is in three nights from tonight, on your 'Seh-tor-dei'." he argued, with a bit of difficulty pronouncing the day.

Kagome honestly felt a little bad about that. She had promised long ago that she would always be there for him during his human night, but it wasn't like it was just the two of them any longer. Miroku and Sango were more than enough protection should something dangerous show up while he didn't have use of his powers, and besides…Kaede's village was safe. There was truly nothing for him to worry about. Still, that he was even bothering to remind her of the new moon, as if she could have possibly forgotten, just went to show how affected he really was by her request to leave for her own world at that time.

"I know that, and I'm really sorry, but Halloween is this Sunday and my school is going to be doing their festival on the days that they've scheduled it. There's no way I could get them to change the dates for something like that. A holiday waits for no man."

"Feh…so then just don't go."

Smiling understandingly, Kagome reached out her hand and gently grasped his own. Surprised, Inuyasha darted his eyes around them for a second to make sure nobody was looking, a faint blush dusting his cheeks.

"I have to go…" she tried to get him to understand. "Even though it is _technically _a volunteer thing for extra credit, my grades are so far behind that I desperately need this opportunity."

He didn't say anything, merely releasing her hand and turning away slightly, his ears lowered. She knew that pose. He was going to let her go, but he was _not _happy about it.

"My schooling is not more important to me than you are." Kagome attempted to reassure him in that moment.

_Sure as hell feels like it_… he thought, his opinion on the matter showing plain as day as he turned back to meet Kagome's eyes with his own.

"Fine, wench, you can have your four days. Whatever." he grumbled before turning to walk away.

Biting her lower lip, Kagome watched silently as Inuyasha headed towards Kaede's hut, probably to pester the old miko over whether or not lunch was ready yet.

"Inuyasha…" she spoke up before he got too far away.

Turning to glance back over his shoulder in Kagome's direction, as the future-born-miko remained standing by the small fence that marked the shrine property, he didn't say anything, but waited patiently for her to say whatever it was she was going to, his expression neutral.

"Why don't you come with me?" she asked him then, adding, "You could stay in my time over the whole weekend, if you wanted to. You certainly wouldn't have to worry about the new moon in my time, since there aren't any youkai there. You know Mama would let you stay at the house. She's already told you before that you're welcome during the new moon, but you know you're really welcome at _any _time, don't you? You could stay for Halloween, as well. And I bet you would have fun if you wanted to come with my family to the-"

"Keh, no thanks." the hanyou interrupted.

It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the offer, but he honestly had no interest in whatever the hell it was that her school was doing. She had attempted to explain it to him, briefly, that they had built some kind of a…something, some shrine thing or another to honor the dead that she would be working at during this festivity. Honestly, he hadn't been paying that much attention. All he knew was that this stupid holiday of her world was taking her away from him…er…from _their quest_. It was taking her away from their quest for four days. He didn't want to have anything to do with it. He didn't want to tag along and 'have fun' when they had to hunt down that bastard Naraku. If she needed to be a worker for her school because of her grades, then so be it. He understood the concept of being ranked by a sensei during training, and how Kagome was ranked very low because of all of her absences. So if she could put herself in a better standing with her superiors in her time by participating in this thing, then fine, whatever. But he wasn't about to partake in whatever the hell festivities she was going to be working at. Mainly, he had no interest in her time's holidays, but secretly, he also didn't like the idea of being a patron whom Kagome would then have to serve in some capacity or another. He really didn't like the idea of her having to cater to _anyone _in such a manner, but he could accept that it was a matter of honor to assist with the festival her school was producing.

"You just go do whatever you gotta do." he told her then, adding, "But you had _better _be back first thing…" He thought about her calendar for a moment… "…_Mah-n-dei_ morning."

She smiled and nodded. "Promise."

...o...o...

Thursday went by in a blur of activity. Kagome made sure to leave the Sengoku jidai early enough to attend school, so she got in a full day's worth of lessons under her belt, and then came the fun part. Checking out the final preparations on the haunted maze that her school had put together in the secondary parking lot, she met with everyone who was in charge of the extracurricular activity. There were a lot of people eager to volunteer for haunted house duty, so Kagome was actually fortunate that she hadn't gotten stuck with something boring like ticket taker. Truth be told, she had first spoken with her teacher about working the haunted house shortly after summer break had ended, having known the school would be doing one as it was something they did every year. She'd signed up for it early, crossing her fingers that whatever current situation they were dealing with in the past would allow her the weekend off. If she truly hadn't been able to go, if there had been recent rumors of Naraku, then she wouldn't have jeopardized their mission for something like a haunted maze. Having fun and repairing her grades in the process was most definitely a win/win situation, but not if innocent lives were at stake. With her track record, everyone would have believed that she had honestly been too sick to do it, if she couldn't have made it. Who would just blow off their chance to work as a monster in a haunted house?

Oh yes, Kagome had lucked out, big time. The theme of the school's haunted house this year was classic movie monsters, so there were going to be things like serial killers, vampires, demons, ghosts, and her personal favorite, zombies. Because it was all volunteer work to help raise money for the school, everyone was responsible for providing their own makeup and costumes, but Kagome didn't need to spend a lot of money for what she had in mind. Checking her supplies list one last time to make sure she had purchased everything she would need, Kagome grinned triumphantly as she headed downstairs for dinner. Tomorrow would be another full day of school, and then she would only have a few hours to prepare before sundown.

...o...o...

_Showtime_… the miko thought with a wicked smirk, standing in front of one of the mirrors in the girl's locker room, which currently functioned as dressing room for every female volunteer worker.

"What do you think, Kagome?" Eri asked, showing her friend the wicked cool, albeit inexpensive, geisha-esque wig she had purchased for herself at a Halloween store.

"Looks good." the miko told her friend honestly.

Eri was going as a ghost, and would be dressing up in a traditional kimono, but one that was made from an eerie pattern in faded gray. She was going to powder the wig to make it look faded as well and also paint all of her visible skin white except for red tears of blood streaming down her face, and she would moan quietly in a corner not directly interacting with anyone. She could pull off 'creepy' better than anyone Kagome knew, and she thought the roll was perfect for her friend.

The future-born miko, on the other hand, was a little more 'hands on' in her scare tactics. She would literally be making a grab for all of the passing guests with her personal goal being to make them scream as loud as possible.

_Hollywood eat your heart out_…she snickered to herself as she prepared. Sure, the American moviemakers definitely had a talent for realistic makeup, but after all the _real _blood and gore she'd been exposed to since her fifteen birthday, she was pretty sure she had a qualifying resume to know how to replicate the appearance of something gross.

First things first…the clothing. She kept her outfit simple. Most people wore what they considered 'Western' style clothing on most days, and she wasn't going for a relic of ages past like her friend, so a plain ol' blouse and skirt worked just fine for her. A truly plain, truly _old _blouse and skirt, as her ensemble had to take the fall as collateral damage in order for her to truly pull off her masterpiece. She'd stomped on her clothing in the dirt, tugged and pulled, and even took a pair of scissors to the hems so that she could fray all the edges. She looked less like she had been gardening, and more like she had been buried alive and had had to claw her way to the surface. Exactly the look she'd been going for, except for the whole buried 'alive' part, that is.

Next came the makeup.

Kagome wasn't a fan of 'Halloween Store' makeup. It was too oily, too shiny, and not truly appropriate for any kind of face painting other than 'clown' in her opinion. No, she would be using _real _makeup for her purposes. But there were two steps she had to take first before she was even ready to apply any makeup. First, while making sure her hair was clipped back and out of the way, she oiled her face and neck; just a light greasing with a heavy moisturizing lotion. She had learned the hard way that you did _not _want to apply liquid latex to dry skin. Not unless you wanted the sensation of perpetual band-aid pulling when it came time to take it off. And speaking of liquid latex, that was phase two. The idea had originally come to her from an old childhood memory of putting white glue on her skin at school, letting it dry and then pealing it off. It was something a lot of kids liked to do during downtime. It looked cool, like you were pulling off your outermost layer of skin. Following the same exact principle now with the latex, Kagome had a small bottle of the solution that had an easy brush applicator, almost like a bottle of nail polish. She quickly painted random spots and splotches all over her face and neck, going in a specific sequence so that by the time she finished with the last one the first one was dry enough to receive a second, and then third coating, making sure the latex was nice and thick.

Allowing it to dry fully, she then went over her entire face and neck, latex included, with a normal, flesh-tone concealer. The latex had a natural yellowish hue which definitely needed to be covered up. Once that was done, and she looked fairly normal save for a bunch of random bumps on her skin, she then went over her whole face and neck again with white makeup, but not the greasepaint kind. Instead, she used eyeshadow…just a cheap brand from a drug store. It worked just as well as the more expensive stuff for her purpose, so there was really no point in wasting the money. Because it was a powder, it left her skin looking more like porcelain, with no hint of an oily shine. She applied the second layer of makeup with her fingertip; fingers made the best makeup applicators because unlike sponge pads, they were incapable of soaking up most of the makeup into themselves, allowing for a heavier, more even coating. Invoking her _really _early childhood memories of finger painting, Kagome quickly coated her whole face and neck with the fine white powder, making her skin look deathly pale. She also included her eyebrows, fading out their dark raven color. Once that was done, she took dark blue, purple and black eyeshadows and accentuated the parts of her face that at most times most women always tried their hardest to conceal. The natural bags under her eyes, made even more visible in recent months thanks to her journeys in the past, she darkened with purple and blue, bringing the same shade down along the sides of her nose, and into and around her mouth and along the outer edges of her chin. Using the black, applied light enough so that it looked more like dark gray, she discretely darkened the bottom portion of her cheeks, well below the cheekbones that would normally want to be drawn out with blush. The end result was an optical illusion of her face being sunken in. Following the same pattern on her neck, she highlighted her windpipe by shadowing either side, making the flesh of her neck look looser than it really was by creating the false image of wrinkles. Some shadowing to her forehead, eyelids and eye sockets completed the look.

Once she was done with all of the 'death makeup', which she honestly thought looked pretty good in and of itself, it then came time for the pièce de résistance. Carefully tugging at the center of each spot of latex with her fingernails, she pulled on each one until the rubbery coating started to rip and pull away, only, instead of pulling it all of the way off, she let the torn pieces hang. The yellowish tint to the latex looked cool showing from the underside, giving the pulled back hanging pieces of plastic the appearance of sickly, dead skin. Her real skin, exposed fully and without any 'death' makeup where the latex had been removed, she colored in with dark redish brown eyeshadows, so that instead of only a thin layer of epidermis, it looked like _all _of her skin had been pulled back, exposing bare muscle tissue. The end result made her look like a disgusting, decomposing corpse with melting skin.

Not quite done with the finishing touches, as she had allowed her lips to dry out while applying all of her facial makeup by deliberately breathing through her mouth and not licking her lips, she then went over the dry skin with white and blue eyeshadow, making her lips look pale and cracked. She would have to remember not to lick her lips at all during the night, but it was nothing a good coating of Chap Stick couldn't repair once everything was said and done. Beauty was pain, after all. Snickering to herself, Kagome then proceeded to get out the one piece of 'Halloween Store' makeup she had actually purchased. Black lipstick. It was thick and greasy and smelled like a crayon, but it would work perfectly for her purposes. She actually needed the heavier formula because regular lipstick was too thin and would wipe away too easily when exposed to saliva. Using the tube of black gunk she held in her hand, she carefully blackened out three of her teeth. That stuff wasn't going anywhere. Stepping back and grinning into the mirror, the miko congratulated herself on her genius. From a distance, and especially in the low lighting she would be working in, you would not be able to tell that she had merely covered her teeth with something. It really looked like those teeth were missing.

Ratting out her hair was the final step, which she accomplished easily enough by brushing it backwards and using a good deal of hairspray. Borrowing some of the unscented baby powder Eri had used in her wig, Kagome grayed out her own hair, just enough to make it look like its natural black pigmentation was fading with lifelessness. She was ready to rock and roll.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Yuka squealed from her place beside Kagome, finishing up the last minute touches on her own costume.

She was going as an oni and was wearing red contact lenses with acrylic fangs in her mouth, latex pointed ear tips attached to her own ears, press-on claws over her nails and a bright red wig styled in a high ponytail. A simple black dress accentuated her look perfectly. Everyone knew that female youkai liked to dress provocatively, or at least, according to legend. But when it came to legends, the ones about youkai were true; Kagome had learned that lesson the hard way. Yura of the Hair came to mind in that moment, though Kagome knew better than to have such a giant slip of the tongue as to start discussing any actual personal experiences she had with female oni. Still, from what she knew, Yuka would do just fine. Her dress was sexy but still acceptable for a girl her age, so she wouldn't get in any trouble with the school. She looked like a nice girl you might want to ask to dance at a club, until you realized she was a monster who planned on having you for dinner. Her character would be roaming the crowds outside while they waited in line to buy tickets or snacks, as if she were truly a monster who had come out of hiding to hunt the innocents under the cover of night.

Ayumi, on the other hand, had taken the role of 'victim' and would be lying lifeless on a table within the haunted maze, in a normal school uniform, but covered with blood and with a large knife sticking out of her chest. One of the boys would be standing over her, blood splatter on his own clothing as he guarded his precious treasure, threatening the lives of anyone who came too close.

Getting into position, Kagome was ecstatic about the role she had acquired for herself. The teachers had wanted to know who could pull off the 'zombie' look the best, and Kagome had won, hands down. Her job was to hide in the shadows, right after a tunnel of darkness. People walking through the maze would suddenly find themselves submerged into total blackness moments before reaching her position. The tunnel of darkness was even rigged with a few booby traps to make the experience extra spooky, and then they would come out of the curtained off hallway with a bright flash of light in their faces, so that they still wouldn't be able to see anything for a second or two. Stumbling through the shallow corridor that led to a larger room made up like a graveyard, thread was hanging from the ceiling to give everyone the chills as they jumped at the eerie sensation of having walked into a spider web. Frantically trying to adjust to the light while also squirming and jumping with their instinctive reactions to free themselves from the creepy spider web sensation crawling on their skin, they would be at their most vulnerable when Kagome made her move. The corridor she hid in resembled a crypt, leading to the graveyard that guests could see at the end of the hall. They could not see the hidden pocket in the side of the wall where Kagome rested in waiting. It looked as if it were a straight hallway that then curved off towards the left; she would jump out from her hiding place on the right, growling and – seemingly – attempting to bite the innocent passersby, which everyone knew would turn them into zombies themselves. She would be hard pressed not to smile and ruin the effect as she reached out for her victims. This was going to be so much fun!

...o...o...

Back at the Higurashi shrine, Kagome's family was just getting ready to head out for the evening, wanting to go down to the school and see their girl at work. Souta was especially looking forward to it. He had earned himself a light bruise on his arm when Kagome had socked him one after he'd commented that all she had to do to scare people was look like how she normally looked first thing in the morning. Seriously, though, the boy was super jealous of his big sister and could hardly wait until he was in junior high so that he could participate in the annual tradition himself.

Exiting the main house, the family was caught off guard when Inuyasha suddenly showed up out of nowhere, heading in their direction from the well-house. Kagome had told them all that he'd expressed absolutely no interest in joining in on the holiday.

"Why, Inuyasha, what brings you here?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, pleasantly surprised by his appearance.

The hanyou tried his best to shrug nonchalantly, worried that he had caught them at a bad time since it was clear they were getting ready to go somewhere. The truth was that he simply missed being in Kagome's presence, and would much rather spend his idle time in _her_ time where he could at least hang out in her room and privately enjoy the sensation of being enveloped in her enticing scent. Back in his time, Miroku and Sango tended to keep to themselves whenever they rested at Kaede's village while Kagome was away, talking quietly of their plans for a Naraku-free future. Shippou could get very annoying very quickly, so if he _had _to deal with a little runt, he much preferred Kagome's younger brother who openly idolized him like he was some kind of a hero rather than taking every moment of every day to remind him of how much of a baka he could sometimes be.

"Keh, things're boring in my time, so I figured I'd take Kagome up on her offer to hang out here while she does her thing at school." he explained, adding, "Besides, tomorrow's the new moon."

Kagome's family had been made aware of his monthly transformation two months ago. She hadn't betrayed his secret; rather, in an incredible show of trust that had touched Kagome deeply, Inuyasha had voluntarily allowed her family to become aware of his time of weakness. A couple of months back, when they had been in Kaede's village to wait out his transformation, he had surprised the miko by not only telling her that she could return home through the well if she wanted to, but also that he wouldn't mind going with her, openly admitting to having liked her mother's cooking every other time he had been invited to stay for dinner. Well, except for that _one _time, but his tongue wouldn't be as sensitive to heavy spices while in his human form. Laughing at her memory of when he'd burst into her room whimpering over his tongue being on fire, Kagome had been surprised but also overjoyed at his desire to go back with her, and the subject of his transformation had been breeched with her family only a few minutes before sunset as they'd all sat around the kitchen table. Announcing that Inuyasha had a secret he was prepared to share with all of them, they had been told merely to watch, and in no time he'd felt the stares of everyone upon him as they'd all gaped openly at his transformation in utter amazement. The situation had then been explained more fully, and Mrs. Higurashi had told him at that time that he would always be welcome in their home during the new moon.

Of course, whether or not he would always take her up on that offer depended greatly on where they were at the time and what they were doing, but since Kagome had needed to return to her own time _anyway _this time around because of this stupid holiday, there was truly no point in spending his human night in the past when he didn't have to.

"Of course, dear. You are welcome to stay here." Kagome's mother told him then, assuring him of what he'd already known.

"Where's Kagome?" he asked her then, glancing around to notice her absence in the group. "She's not back from that festival thing yet?"

"It's just barely getting started!" Souta piped up, adding with eagerness, "We're on our way to go see her right now!"

"The thing her school's doing takes place at night?" Inuyasha asked, surprised. Now he felt bad for not having paid closer attention when Kagome had been explaining everything to him. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of her being kept out all night. Who knew how rowdy the celebratory crowds could get? But at least it looked like she wouldn't be alone, since her family was headed down there to keep an eye on her.

"Why don't you come with us?" Mrs. Higurashi asked him then. "I'm sure you'd have a good time."

"Keh, no thanks." he shrugged off.

He'd never been one for crowds and celebrations. Besides, he did remember vaguely that Kagome had said something about this holiday having to do with honoring the dead, something about ghosts and youkai. Every festival he knew of that included anything about oni was a festival to drive the demons _out_. He doubted it would go over too well if her family suddenly strolled in with a hanyou in their midst. He didn't feel like getting pelted with beans.

Looking mildly disappointed, Mrs. Higurashi didn't bother trying to argue. She supposed she couldn't really blame the boy for not having any interest in fun and games, considering the type of life she knew he'd had. But still, it was for that reason that she wished all the more that he would go with them, certain that he truly would find himself having a good time if he just allowed himself to loosen up a little. She was surprised that he wasn't even the least bit interested in a holiday in which he would be able to roam freely as he was without anyone thinking him a true monster and either fearing or trying to attack him, but Kagome had told them yesterday during dinner that she had explained the holiday to him and that he simply wasn't interested. She had said she believed it was because he was simply in too serious of a mindset right now to allow himself to do anything that was even remotely entertaining. He had told Kagome plainly long ago that he believed he didn't deserve to feel happy or carefree, and the future-born miko was doubtful that his opinions of himself had changed very much in the last few months. Hopefully, after Naraku was defeated and that giant responsibility of seeking revenge and justice was no longer hanging over their heads, then he would finally be at a place where he could allow himself to slow down and enjoy life. But Kagome hadn't wanted to force the issue when he'd turned down her initial invitation to her school's Halloween festival, and her mother honored her wishes in that moment by also letting the subject drop without a fuss.

"All right, dear." she answered then, assuring him, "You are welcome to stay here while we're gone, if you wish."

Jii-chan muttered something under his breath about letting 'the youkai' roam the shrine grounds freely in their absence, but Mrs. Higurashi didn't bother pointing out to her father-in-law how even if she had told Inuyasha to leave, nothing would prevent him from returning again and remaining on their property while they were gone if he so desired, anyway. Fortunately, the hanyou seemed to ignore the old man's ramblings, for the most part, his ears lowering a bit to his head as his eyes silently sought Kagome's mother's for final confirmation.

Nodding her head in the affirmative, she gave the boy a brief, apologetic look as she added, "Please make yourself at home. We will be back before too long, although I'm afraid Kagome will not be home for several hours yet."

Inuyasha's ears lowered even further at that, although he was unaware that Mrs. Higurashi could read his dejected expression so easily.

_He truly misses her, even after only two days of separation_…

Saying their final farewells, Kagome's family headed down to the taxi that was waiting for them at the bottom of the shrine steps. Finding himself standing in the middle of the shrine grounds like a fool, Inuyasha wasn't sure what to do with himself for a moment, but quickly decided that he would see if Kagome's window was unlocked. At least he would still get to spend the time engulfed in her scent, since the girl's bedroom was literally perfumed with her natural essence. Leaping up onto the edge of the roof right outside Kagome's second-story window, Inuyasha discovered right away that it was unlocked, and smiling to himself, he stepped inside, shutting the window behind him. It wouldn't do to let her room air out, after all.

Deciding to take a quick nap on her bed, Inuyasha allowed his mind to wander. He thought about everything he and Kagome had been through together since the beginning of their journey. When Kaede had first coerced him into working along side the future-born miko to restore the shattered Shikon no Tama, he would have laughed in the face of anyone who dared tell him that there would one day come a time when he actually, honestly cared for the girl. Now, he couldn't imagine his life without her. While he wasn't ready to admit this to anyone out loud yet, least of all Kagome, she was hands down the most important person to him in his life. True, that wasn't necessarily saying much when you looked at how few people he'd ever actually interacted with, but she was more important to him than _Kikyou_, and he knew that _that _was saying a lot.

It had hurt him tremendously when Kagome had shouted out that she hated him after the whole fiasco with Kikyou nearly dying from Naraku's miasma, but even though he believed Kagome when she later claimed to have no recollection of saying those words, the miko had still, finally, privately apologized. She had told him she still didn't remember saying it, but that she also knew very well how one could shout out something they didn't mean in the heat of the moment. She had assured him that she did _not _hate him, and considering the numerous number of times that he had said something hurtful to her over the course of their journey together, he had easily forgiven her upon seeing the genuine remorse in her eyes.

It would've simply been too hypocritical of him to hold a grudge over Kagome shouting out something she didn't really mean in a moment of anger when he'd strategically lied to her on several occasions, his thinking clear.

It was a lie every time he denied thinking her pretty. It was a deception every time he feigned annoyance when her feet hurt and he had to carry her. It was an act every time he insulted her cooking…

Even when she honestly had spiced the food beyond his preference, it still touched him deep inside that she even _cared _enough to _bother _cooking for him. He wasn't sure she comprehended the significance of a miko willingly providing sustenance for a hanyou – a woman cooking for a man, no less – but even if it caused his tongue excruciating agony he would gladly eat it if it had come from her. He would never forget how he had almost lost her to Naraku's trickery while he'd been hung up over false rumors of Kikyou's survival, and while he was glad that it had turned out that Kikyou _had_ survived, and he was eternally grateful to Kagome for purifying the miasma out of her body, had he truly lost Kagome only to then later discover Kikyou's whereabouts, it would have been a shallow, undeserved and undesired consolation prize. Kagome was his everything, and he knew she felt the same way.

Yes, while she might have shouted out that she hated him in frustration over the whole Kikyou thing, he would never, _could _never forget the sound of her voice shouting out that she _loved _him moments before he'd broken into the building where Kagura and Akago had held her captive. He wasn't sure if she knew he had heard her or not, and so far he'd been too cowardly to risk bringing it up, but he hoped that, one day, Kagome would have the courage to say those words to his face. Hopefully, at that time, he would have the courage to tell her he felt the same way.

Drifting in and out of a light slumber while his mind continued to run along similar thoughts, the hanyou completely lost track of time, and it was with a start that he bolted wide awake on her bed at the sound of the front door opening downstairs.

_Damn, how long has it been? _Inuyasha questioned himself, deciding he'd better make an appearance downstairs to at least inform her family that he was in fact still there.

_I wonder how much longer Kagome is going to be gone_…he pondered then, her mother having only said that she would be gone for several hours.

Had Kagome even told him that this festival thing took place at night? He couldn't remember…and he didn't want to get in trouble with the miko for scolding her on something she hadn't told him only for it to turn out that she _had_, therefore revealing the fact that he hadn't even been listening. So he would let it go, although now he really wished that the new moon wasn't tomorrow, because if it weren't, then he could sneak down there to keep an eye on her. While he had no interest in actually attending the festival with her family and having to pretend he was having a good time while trying his best not to cause a scene while surrounded by a large crowd of smelly, noisy humans, with his hanyou powers intact he could stay hidden in the shadows and watch the goings on from afar.

_No point in cursing the lunar cycle…_he thought forlornly. _Just like this holiday of hers, the new moon waits for nothing_.

Heading downstairs, Inuyasha was greeted warmly by Kagome's mother who immediately apologized for them having been gone for so long. He brushed off her concerns, too embarrassed to admit that he had actually been taking a nap. He was a big, strong hanyou, after all. He didn't _need _to take 'naps'. Asking him next if he had gotten himself something to eat, Inuyasha's stomach answered for him before he even had a chance to decide whether or not to be honest, and Mrs. Higurashi smiled knowingly at his sheepish expression. Assuming the boy merely hadn't wanted to raid their kitchen without permission, which had been very kind of him, she offered to fix him a cup of ramen in that moment, to which he eagerly agreed.

Trying to decipher what might be going on down at Kagome's school based on the lingering scents he could detect on her family, he immediately noted all of the various snack foods that Souta had apparently consumed, as the boy rambled a mile a minute about a bunch of things that made absolutely no sense to him. He assumed the boy was talking about the shrine thing that Kagome's school had built, which was apparently some sort of walk-through building with different rooms to visit, but Souta kept on using movie references that went completely over the hanyou's head. Inuyasha barely comprehended what a movie _was_…he was familiar with the concept of theatre, though he had absolutely no idea how Kagome's time could capture the images of actors and shrink them down onto the moving picture boxes…so all of the foreign words the excitable boy was using to describe what the various rooms of the shrine looked like went completely over his head.

Souta was just about to describe what Kagome herself was doing when the phone rang, pulling him from his thoughts as he jumped up to silence the device. Inuyasha was startled by the ringing and nearly dropped his ramen.

"Hello?" Souta answered, still hyper. "I know, right?" he shouted then, the caller apparently one of his school friends who was equally as excited.

Now Inuyasha was sure he _definitely _didn't want to have anything to do with the festival. Not if he would have to deal with a horde of excited boys around Souta's age. If it was something for children, then he couldn't care less. Still, even as he tried to convince himself of that fact, he couldn't help cocking an ear in Souta's direction as he attempted to listen in on his phone call.

Attempted, because in that moment Mrs. Higurashi put a stop to Souta's plans for endless chatter.

"All right, young man. I think you've had far too much sugar for one day. It's too late at night for phone calls. You can visit with your friends tomorrow if you want to, but as for right now it's time to go to bed."

"Awww…" Kagome's brother whined, though he didn't argue when he told the plastic contraption in his hand, "I gotta go, but I'll come over tomorrow, 'kay?"

Receiving an affirmative acknowledgment from his friend, Souta hung up and headed upstairs.

Jii-chan also excused himself in that moment, grumbling to himself about 'kids these days' as he headed off to bed.

"Sorry about that, Inuyasha." Mrs. Higurashi apologized after they were gone, a touch of humor in her voice at having caught the way the hanyou had originally been startled by the ringing phone.

"Keh." he grumbled good-naturedly, as she took his empty ramen cup from his hands.

"Would you like another cup of ramen, dear?"

What was it about this woman always being so kind to him that immediately made him lose all of his defenses? She reminded him of his own mother, and in that moment, when it was only just the two of them, he didn't see any reason to be unnecessarily gruff with her.

"Yes, please."

Smiling, Kagome's mother went about fixing Inuyasha his treat, while describing to him in a much more subdued, and far less detailed manner just what all the fuss had been about.

"They have put together a sort of maze, although there's no way you can actually get lost inside. There are no dead ends. Hmmm…I wonder why they call it a maze then…" she trailed off to herself for a moment as she poured in the hot water, causing Inuyasha to silently roll his eyes when she wasn't looking. Now he knew where Kagome got her occasional scatterbrained-ness.

"Anyway," she continued then, "Kagome and her friends are all dressed up as different people in order to honor the spirit of the holiday." she went on, adding, "It's just something fun for children, so that they can pretend to be scared."

Inuyasha nodded his understanding as she handed him his second cup of noodles, even though he didn't _really _understand. So Kagome was dressed up as someone else, it was some kind of a walk-through building, and kids pretended to be scared as they decorated the place with monsters, oni and ghosts. It still sounded like a festival to banish the evil forces of the world, if he understood it right. The kids knew they weren't _real _monsters, so that was why they allowed themselves the make-believe fun of pretending to be afraid, until…presumably…something or another happened to make the evil demons go away. How was it all that different from Setsubun, then?

_Well, Setsubun doesn't have anything to do with the dead, for one thing_…

Still, Inuyasha found it a bit redundant. Humans would celebrate just about anything it seemed. Though at least now he supposed he understood why Kagome and her family had both invited him to go along, if some people were dressed up in costume and would therefore believe his own hanyou appearance to be fake, but still…even _if _nobody realized he was a real youkai and freaked out, having to put up with all of the craziness of being in the middle of a crowd of celebrating humans was _not _worth simply being able to leave the house without a hat on.

Mrs. Higurashi was about to say something else when her speech was broken by an unexpected yawn.

"Excuse me…" she apologized lightly, a hand over her mouth.

"Keh…why don't you head off to bed yourself?" he told her then, standing up from the table to take his second empty cup of ramen to the trash himself. "It's late and it sounds like you had quite a time keeping up with Souta."

Mrs. Higurashi chuckled a bit at that.

"I'm here, so I'll stay up for when Kagome gets home." he offered before she could protest.

"Well, thank you." she answered then, nodding her head with a tired smile pulling at the edges of her mouth. "Kagome's lucky to have a friend like you." she added with a wink, chuckling to herself at the way Inuyasha immediately blushed at her words.

"K-keh…"

Quickly turning and exiting the kitchen before he could see just how large her smile was becoming, Mrs. Higurashi did have to admit that she was fairly tired after such a long night. She actually _was _glad that Inuyasha was there, since she probably would've forced herself to stay up for Kagome otherwise.

Two hours later, at a little passed one in the morning, the front door creaked open quietly as said miko tiptoed her way inside, trying not to disturb her slumbering family. She was thoroughly exhausted, but it would take something literally hooking into the sides of her mouth and pulling downward to rid the smile from her face as she headed up the stairs and towards her bedroom. So distracted as she was by the memories of all she had done that night buzzing around in her head, she didn't notice the telltale sensation of a demonic aura…a _real _one…brushing up against her senses until she was right on top of it.

"Inuyasha!" she declared with a startled gasp upon stepping inside her room to find the hanyou sitting on her bed. His arms were crossed, and Tetsusaiga was leaning casually against the wall beside him. He didn't seem upset. His expression looked neutral, although Kagome had learned the hard way that that was usually a bad sign. He was probably a little upset but would try his best not to act on it, she figured in that moment.

"Keh, 'bout time you got back." he grumbled, confirming her suspicions. He knew he couldn't really go off on the girl for doing what she was supposed to be doing, and what he had already given her his permission to do.

"Yeah, sorry…" Kagome answered quietly, closing the door to her room so as not to wake the others. "The haunted house closes at midnight, but then I had to remove all of my- Eep!"

Startled to turn around and suddenly find Inuyasha standing less than two inches in front of her face, Kagome tried her best to get her frantic heartbeat back under control while his nose twitched faster than a bunny rabbit's.

"What the _hell _is that _horrible_ stench?" he demanded quietly, conscientious of the fact that the girl's family was sleeping under the same roof.

He would keep his voice down, but he wanted answers, now.

Kagome's natural scent was all but completely obstructed by an unnamable conglomeration of increasingly displeasing odors that literally burned the hairs in his nose. She smelled of countless strangers, _male _as well as female, which in and of itself had his inner beast wanting to claw its way to the surface so that he could more easily distinguish those people's scents in order to hunt them down and ensure that they never again got within a thousand feet of his Kagome. But beyond _those _scents were also the stinks of substances he knew he could never hope to identify. The miko had been submerged in foul smelling concoctions before, on more than one occasion, and he was relieved to at least note that there didn't appear to be any lingering traces of magic clinging to the girl, but what in Kami's name _had _Kagome been covered with, and why had she allowed it to happen?

"Wash it off, now." he demanded.

Kagome went from startled and nervous to indignant in the blink of an eye.

"I _did _wash off my makeup." she insisted, raising a hand to point at her face as evidence, though the gesture was meaningless to him. If he couldn't smell her natural scent, then she clearly hadn't washed well enough.

Besides, he knew what makeup was, and that was _not _what he was smelling.

"I don't care if you already took a hundred baths. Bathe again, and do it _right_ this time. For as obsessed as you are with bathing back in _my _world, I can't believe you're allowing yourself to stink like you do right now."

_The nerve of this guy! _Kagome thought, trying her best not to raise her voice herself.

Okay, so she hadn't really taken a shower…it was in the middle of the night and she was tired! _Nobody _had bothered to shower after the haunted house had closed. Heck, half of the people hadn't even bothered to remove their costumes at all as they'd disbursed and headed for their respective homes, but the latex got a little itchy after a while and so since it would obviously have to be removed before going to bed either way, Kagome had decided that there was really no point in delaying the process. She had lingered behind in the locker room along with a few other actors who were as equally made up in some sense or another, taking the time to scrub her face and run a brush through her hair, not to mention change into some clean clothes. As she thought about it, though, she supposed she couldn't really blame Inuyasha for his reaction, realizing that even after getting dressed back in her uniform she probably still smelled like all of the guests she had grabbed onto throughout the night, not to mention the few fellow students she had come into contact with _after _changing her outfit. She knew how he was when it came to smelling other people on her, especially guys. And since she'd only used a makeup removing solution on her face the scent of latex probably also still remained, not to mention the scent of the solution itself. It wasn't like she had really _cleaned _her face with soap and water, she'd merely used one chemical to get rid of another; no wonder the poor guy's nose was going a hundred miles an hour.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Kagome visibly went from angry to calm, which had Inuyasha relaxing marginally when he had been bracing himself for an argument.

"I'm sorry, I know you've got a _very _sensitive nose, and I can only imagine what you must be smelling. But I'm honestly too tired to bathe right now. If you can't stand the way I smell, I won't take offence if you want to leave, and I promise that I will take a very long, very thorough bath before returning to your time on Monday."

As he continued to stare at her, it took the miko a minute to even realize, "Hey, wait a minute. Just what are you even doing here, anyway? You very specifically said that you weren't going to come."

"Feh…" he grumbled, turning his head while breathing in through his mouth. He had no intention of telling the girl that he had wanted to be in her presence. Not while she stank to high heavens.

"Shippou was just bein' a brat so I figured I would hang out here since you said I could, but there ain't no way I'm stickin' around while you stink like that. I ain't tryin' to be mean, but whatever that shit is is burning my nose. You had _better _make sure to bathe properly before returning."

With that said, he turned and slid open the window, deliberately leaving it open behind him as he grabbed Tetsusaiga and leapt out into the night. Now they _would _need to air out her bedroom. Bounding across the courtyard without so much as a backward glance at the girl he could feel watching him every step of the way, he headed straight for the well-house and didn't stop until he was safely back on his own side of time, deeply inhaling the cleansing scent of dew moistened grass. Dawn was still several hours away, so after a moment he figured that he might as well try and take advantage of the remaining hours of night to catch up on even more slumber, since he rarely allowed himself any decent amount of sleep while out on the road. Heading over to the Goshinboku, he leapt up into its branches and did his best to get comfortable. Still, he doubted unconsciousness would come back to him all that easily, thoughts of what Kagome could have possibly been doing at her school's festival buzzing around in his head and refusing to let him relax.

_Just what are they making you do, Kagome? _

_...o...o...  
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Sighing forlornly as she watched the hanyou leave, Kagome futilely sniffed at herself, trying to determine just how badly she actually reeked to his nose.

_I guess it's a good thing he didn't want to go, after all_… the miko thought, deciding to leave her window open herself, and for the same reason, as she sluggishly pealed off her school uniform and changed into a warm pair of flannel pajamas.

The inside of the haunted maze smelled funny even to her own nose, though it wasn't anything that she couldn't deal with. It didn't really smell _bad_, at least to her, but she knew that Inuyasha was at least a thousand times more sensitive to smell than she was. His sense of smell wasn't just superhuman, it was supercanine, and when you thought about all of the hot, sweaty bodies covered in latex and greasepaint and fake blood all jammed together in such close quarters…

_Sorry, Inuyasha_… Kagome thought again in passing as she crawled into bed, belatedly realizing she would have to wash her bedding as well now before returning to the Sengoku jidai Monday morning.


	2. Curiosity killed the…dog?

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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Chapter 2 – Curiosity killed the…dog?

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_Damn that wench and her infernal 'grades'…_Inuyasha cursed for the seventeenth time that morning. Tonight was the new moon, and thanks to that miko and her stupid misplaced sense of duty, he would be spending it alone for the first time since…

_Since she freed me from Kikyou's seal_…he thought with a sigh.

Kagome had freed him from the undead miko in more ways than one on that day, not that he was about to admit to anything mushy like that to the wench's face, of course. At least not while he was busy trying to stay angry with the girl.

Since she wasn't due back for two more mornings, Miroku and Sango had decided to take a quick trip to the taijiya village so that the slayer could stock up on some much needed supplies of her own. Things like stink-pellets and replacement filters for her gas mask. They could make the journey there and back within the time allotted with the aid of Kirara, and deciding that he hadn't wanted to be left behind without even the nekomata to keep him company, Shippou had tagged along with them as well. It was his fault, really, Inuyasha knew, since his friends all believed that he would be spending the new moon in Kagome's world. They never would've left him alone otherwise, but he couldn't deny that it was logical to get Sango's pit stop taking care of while they were already idle, anyway, so that they wouldn't then have to detour to the slayer's village at a later time. So he definitely wasn't upset with them for leaving, but since he was _not _currently in Kagome's world, that left Inuyasha alone in the presence of Kaede, instead, something he was _not _looking forward to. Especially since the old miko would probably try to take advantage of it being just the two of them to drill him on something or other while his human emotions would be more vulnerable to his desire to be honest with the aging priestess. He _did _sort of owe her one, he supposed, for watching over his body during the five decades he'd been sealed, making sure no random person had come along and decided to torch him or something. Then there was the whole welcoming him into her home thing, even back when she'd known nothing of Naraku and had had no idea why he had suddenly attacked their village that day for the Sacred Jewel. Knowing Kaede, she would probably want to pick his brain regarding his lingering feelings for Kikyou versus his developing feelings for Kagome, and he couldn't even rightfully say that it was none of the hag's business…so that meant he had to make himself scarce.

_I guess spending the new moon in her time wouldn't be so bad, after all_… he conceded after a few minutes of contemplation, realizing that the lingering stink of whatever the hell she was doing down at her school wouldn't be quite so unbearable while in his human form.

That thought had his anger bubbling back up to the surface again. Just what the hell _was _she doing down at that school of hers, anyway? The more he thought about it, the more he realized he couldn't just let it go. He knew he was in the dark and he absolutely detested the fact that there was something going on he didn't know about, especially something so important.

"Keh, well then I'll just have to find out, won't I?" he said to himself as he made his way to the well. Kaede would figure out where he'd gone.

Arriving on Kagome's side of time, he made sure to wait in the well-house a moment until he was certain that the coast was clear. He didn't want the miko realizing he had come back; it wasn't her he was there to see. Sure, he supposed he could just ask her to explain to him in greater detail what all she was involved with, but who was to say that she would be completely honest with him? While he didn't think that Kagome would outright _lie _to him, there was nothing preventing her from concealing part of the truth, and he wanted to know _everything_, starting with what, _exactly_,that 'maze' thing – as her mother had called it – really was.

Taking off in the direction of her school, he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, traveling faster than the human eye could see. Arriving at his destination, it didn't take him long to discover what he was looking for, immediately noticing a new, small building that had not been there the last time he'd been at Kagome's school, surrounded by even smaller buildings all around it. They were painted black, and the main building was covered with strange decorations applied to its outer surface that he supposed were meant to represent ghosts and youkai. Landing with a thud next to the ticket booth, Inuyasha's nose was immediately accosted by the combined scents of hordes of humans, spilled food and drink, and more strange chemical smells he couldn't quite identify. Among the things that stood out the strongest, there was an unmistakable lingering stench of fear in the air, but it smelled…off. Something was missing. Then it dawned on him; there was nervousness and apprehension, but none of the chilled, blood curdling terror that was usually associated with genuine fright. It was just like how Kagome's mother had explained it, the children coming to this festivity were _allowing_ themselves to _pretend _to be scared, apparently to the point that at least the first part of the emotion had become legitimate, as everyone psyched themselves up for what was meant to be a frightening experience.

Most other emotions did not linger as strongly as fear did, and with all of the other scents mixed up together and clouding his nose like they were, he couldn't really decipher much of anything else, though if Souta's reaction when the family had gotten home last night was any indication, then everyone's fright most likely got replaced with joy after the experience had ended.

Approaching what he believed to be the main entrance to the 'maze', as the vast majority of human scents seemed to be heading into the building from that particular doorway, Inuyasha came up short to find that the door was locked, sealed by a small metal box attaching it to the framework. Taking a moment to examine the way the padlock was attached, however, revealed that he could open the door without breaking anything, which was a good thing since he hadn't wanted to alert anyone to his presence. Never mind the fact that he was currently standing outside of a black building in bright red clothing with bright white hair, but fortunately for him there was no school today, so there was presently nobody around to notice what he was up to. While the old him might've just ripped the lock clean off the door, he didn't want anybody knowing that someone had broken inside, especially since Kagome would probably suspect him before anyone else, so instead, he carefully inserted a claw tip into the screws holding the bracket onto the door, unscrewing them one by one. He was familiar with screws thanks to his time aiding Kagome's grandfather in their storage sheds. Sure, most of the time the old geezer just had him moving heavy boxes from place to place, but there had been a couple of times that it'd turned out a shelf or two had been in need of repair. Inuyasha had been confused at first with how to use the small pick-like tool her grandfather had placed in his hand, and he understood nothing of distinguishing direction by relation to which way a clock hand turned, but it didn't take him long to grasp how the small metal nails he'd been handed all had threading that wove around their bases, meaning you had to twist them into the surface you wished to put them in rather than merely hammering straight down. Recalling which direction was used to remove the screws, Inuyasha did just that in that moment, pulling them from the door one by one, until the bracket that the padlock was attached to pulled away from the wood of the door. He left all three screws hanging from the bracket so that he wouldn't lose them, intent on reattaching the bracket to the door before leaving.

_So the wench thinks she can keep secrets, can she? _Inuyasha thought as he gently pushed the door open with a creak as it squeaked on its hinges. Never mind the fact that both she and her mother had invited him to come along. They had only invited him out of some misplaced sense of duty, he was sure; they knew he'd turn down their invitations, knowing how he felt about crowds and festivals. But that was before he'd realized that Kagome was directly pawing all over everybody who passed through here, while covered in some foul smelling chemical. He didn't care how much 'extra credit' her school was going to give her for playing along with this fiasco, nobody had the right to feel Kagome's hands upon them. The only thing that was keeping him sane at the moment was the constant reminder that this was a _children's _festival, meaning that Kagome at least wasn't being forced to…forced to…

If he found any evidence of _that _he would burn the whole gods damned thing to the ground!

Stepping into the blackened hallway, Inuyasha crinkled his nose in disgust. Paint, plastic, oils he didn't quite recognize, and lots and lots of humans. Sweat and tears and _fear_, even the faintest hint of blood was in the air, buried under the stench of chemicals. The place smelled like a torture chamber.

_Yeah, Souta looked __real__ tortured when his friend called_…

Though the blood smell worried him a little bit, it was very faint, like what one would get from a scraped knee or elbow. He had that ratio down fairly accurately, considering how many times Kagome used to stumble and cut herself back near the beginning of their journey. Snorting to himself at the memory, Inuyasha fully entered the maze, his night vision switching on once he entered the darkness so that everything appeared before him in perfect, black and white clarity. Although the scent of blood was a little unsettling, he would do his best to ignore it, unless it got noticeably stronger at some point, of course. So far so good.

_This place doesn't look so bad_… he thought after a moment, walking through the hallways to note the occasional larger rooms where he gathered either Kagome or one of her school friends was stationed during operating hours. There was no way he would be able to pick up Kagome's natural scent in this place. He thought he could perhaps smell it, in the back of his mind, but it was also likely true that she had been through the entire building at one point in time or another. He had hoped that he would be able to identify where Kagome herself had been stationed based on the stink of whatever foreign chemical she had been covered with, but while part of what had been on her skin didn't appear to be present in the maze at all, another stench that had been underneath the most potent chemical smell on her last night was literally everywhere, indicating that whatever her 'makeup' had actually been, she apparently hadn't been the only one coated in the stuff.

Exiting a room that appeared to be a library or study of some sort, Inuyasha passed through the next corridor, noticing a row of strange paintings on the wall. They looked like drawings of various akuma. Following the turn, he came into a room that had a table in the corner, with some sort of strange ink or paint splattered around on the walls and floors. Leaving that room and heading down another narrow hallway, he was confused as he came upon a room of dots. There were dots painted on the walls, but there also appeared to be dots hanging from the ceiling on thin wires. What did that represent? Were they supposed to be lost and floating souls? It took him a moment to find his way out of that room as there didn't immediately appear to be an exit, but continuing to head for the far wall he quickly discovered a black curtain he pushed aside which led to another hallway. This hallway was different as it had a curved ceiling and walls, with a stripe painted along the inside that reminded him of the thread of a screw. In fact, it looked like he was walking along a thin bridge of some sort, as the walls were not connected to the floor and instead appeared to curve underneath him. At the end of the tunnel in front of him the wall also had a curved line painted on it, which sort of reminded him of that 'lollipop' thing Kagome had brought back for Shippou one time. Exiting that hallway he made a sharp left and immediately found himself deposited into what looked like an underground cave of some sort, the scent of coal suddenly thick in the air. It took him a moment to realize it was supposed to be a mine. There was what appeared to be a fake human skeleton leaning against the wall, as if a man had died in there. Exiting that room, Inuyasha next found himself in a room full of long, polished wooden boxes sitting on elevated platforms. Once again he didn't understand the significance.

Growing bored, Inuyasha headed down the next curve in the hallway only to suddenly find himself in total darkness. His youkai vision allowed him to see even in pitch-black conditions, but there was simply nothing _to _see, he realized quickly, as he found the thick black curtain on the other end of the hallway and pushed it aside, emerging in yet another corridor. Rolling his eyes as he brushed the thin strands of thread aside that he saw hanging from the ceiling, it wasn't hard for him to deduce what those were for, and he snickered to himself that human children were so easily frightened. Making his way down the hallway he followed the curve towards the left and quickly found himself in a facsimile of a graveyard, complete with a fake tree off to the side to complete the illusion that he was outdoors even though there was truly no way to ignore the fact that he was still stuffed inside the smelly, stale pressboard building. Walking past the graves, Inuyasha then emerged in another room, a room that still looked done up as the outdoors, as he spotted what looked like an old well. Glancing inside the well revealed that it wasn't in truth any deeper than the floor of the building, and there was some sort of box down inside it.

Reaching the end of the road, as he came upon another door that was apparently locked from the outside, Inuyasha turned and quickly headed back the way he'd come. Emerging through the entrance, he took a moment to twist each of the screws back in place, as planned, thus ensuring that the humans, with their puny noses, would never be able to tell that he'd been in there.

_Keh, though even me with my own nose probably wouldn't be able to tell that I'd be in there if I went back inside right now_… he relented after a moment, doing his best to fight off an encroaching sneeze attack as he leapt up onto the roof of the nearby school, taking off in the direction of Kagome's shrine.

Now that he'd seen the place with his own two eyes, it didn't look like that big of a deal. He imagined that a lot of the symbolism he hadn't understood would make perfect sense to the humans of Kagome's time, so he supposed the experience could be a frightening one if you allowed it to be, but still, he didn't think it was anything worth getting as excited over as Souta had obviously been. Then again, the boy had _clearly _been hopped up on sugar, the scents of soda and chocolate and all sorts of other treats lingering in the air outside the haunted maze in and around the smaller buildings that had been stationed next to the main one.

As he headed back to the Higurashi Shrine, bypassing the house as he came to their property, making a mad dash for the well, Inuyasha still couldn't shake his thoughts of the haunted maze, and what, exactly, Kagome's part was in the whole thing. He was still upset with the girl for pawing all over the visitors, but he knew he didn't _really _know what she was doing, so he wouldn't get up in her face about it and demand that she not touch anyone for the next two nights. That wouldn't accomplish anything except getting her angry with him and getting himself slammed face first into the ground. Leaping up into the branches of the Goshinboku of his time, Inuyasha figured there was no hurry in letting the wench know that he planned on spending the new moon in her time, after all. The longer he was in her presence, the less likely it would be that he could refrain from saying anything nasty about her job for the school. In fact, it would probably be best if he waited until after she had already left for the evening before returning to her family's home at all. It would be better if Kagome thought he had decided to stay in his own time.

_Heh…so the wench likes to scare people, does she?_ Inuyasha thought in passing after a moment, admitting, at least to himself, that the concept was somewhat amusing. Not that he thought the girl didn't have it in her. He knew from firsthand experience just how frightening Kagome could actually be.

He also had to admit, after having already seen the haunted maze for himself now, that a large part of him was even more curious to find out what he was missing, knowing there had to be more to it than what he'd seen. But the last thing he wanted to do was embarrass himself by humbly deciding to take her family up on their offer to take him down there with them after he had already flat out refused the first time around. Besides, who was to say that they were even going back down there at all tonight? Especially knowing that it was his night of weakness, once he showed up at her house, Mrs. Higurashi would probably insist that they all stay put for his safety. Not that he imagined it would be all that dangerous to leave the house in her world while in his human form. Kagome's time was much more dangerous to him while in his _hanyou _form.

That unexpected thought gave him the beginnings of a plan.

_No way, I couldn't…could I? _

He'd never dared do much of _anything _during his human night before, but it was true that Kagome's world was void of youkai, at least for the most part. That Noh mask didn't count because it had been brought to life with a jewel shard, and the soul piper didn't count because that wasn't a dangerous youkai. Sure, there would undoubtedly still be risks to being out in Kagome's world without his youkai senses, but one giant positive would be that he could blend in and keep an eye on the wench undetected. Since Kagome wasn't expecting him, he'd be able to sneak around without her knowledge, seeing first hand just what all the fuss was really about.

_Maybe I'll take the wench up on her invitation, after all_…

Of course, he still didn't really have any desire to genuinely attend the festival as one of the guests, but if he could observe the wench at work while _pretending _to be a guest, that was different. Without her knowledge of his presence, she would be acting just as she had the night before, not holding anything back. That way he could observe what she was _really _up to without worrying that she had toned anything down for his sake. Yes, going with her family as a whole production so that he could 'enjoy' himself was definitely _not _what he had planned, but he would be going. Oh yes, he would be going.

_I can't do this alone, though_…he realized then, glancing down at himself as he sat on his favorite branch. Human night or no, his red kimono would be a dead giveaway. But he couldn't let Mrs. Higurashi know of his plans, or surely she would spoil the surprise by informing Kagome of his presence. Still, he was sure _another_ member of Kagome's family would be quite eager to help him, and keep his secret.

...o...o...

"Inu-no-nii-chan!" Souta cried in surprise as the hanyou literally got the drop on him as he headed back home from his friend's house.

"Hey kid…" the hanyou greeted casually enough.

Beaming up at his hero, Souta asked in mild confusion, "What are you doing here? Nee-chan said your nose was bothered by all the left over smells of the haunted house, and that you weren't coming back."

Then eyes widening in belated realization, the boy asked, "Oh…is it because of what tonight is? Then the smells won't bother you, huh? You gonna stay the night at our house after all, then?"

Inuyasha smirked down at Kagome's brother, pleased to discover that the miko did indeed believe that he would not be returning, even despite his human night.

"Yes and no, kid. Yes, I'm back 'cause it's the new moon, but not just so I can crash at your place instead of back at the babaa's. I've got a plan, and I need your help."

Souta's eyes widened in delight as Inuyasha launched into an explanation of everything he had planned. A lot of it the hanyou would be able to pull off on his own. He knew where Kagome's school was, after all, and also precisely where on the school grounds the haunted maze was located. He also knew that once upon a time Kagome's mother had purchased some 'modern' clothes for him to wear, if he were ever curious about their world and wanted Kagome to show him around. He had declined the offer at the time, politely enough for him, but Mrs. Higurashi had assured him that the clothing was there if he ever changed his mind. That meant he knew he had a way out of his fire-rat. What Inuyasha didn't know was where in the house the clothing Mrs. Higurashi had purchased for him was, what it looked like, or how to put it on. He also knew that the festival at Kagome's school required money, something that he _didn't _have. Souta quickly assured him not to worry in that department, that he'd been saving up his allowance for a while for a new video game console, but that giving him some money for an admission ticket to the haunted house would _totally _be worth it.

As they reached the shrine steps, Inuyasha darted away, planning on waiting in hiding until after Kagome left for the evening. Souta was under strict orders not to let anyone in his family know that Inuyasha had returned, but since the hanyou planned on playing a prank on his sister, Souta didn't have a problem going along with it. Shortly after an early dinner, Kagome was gone, and Souta went up to his room to 'finish his homework'. Unlocking his bedroom window, he pulled out his chair and sat at his desk, and waited.

He didn't have long to wait, as Inuyasha climbed inside as soon as he was sure Kagome was out of sensing range.

Fortunately, Souta remembered the time his mother had purchased those clothes for Inuyasha, so he knew exactly where they were and retrieved then quickly while Mrs. Higurashi was still tidying up in the kitchen. As he helped his hero figure out how to fasten jeans and tie shoelaces, Souta couldn't help snickering to himself that he wished he could be there to see Kagome's face. To see _both _of their faces. Inuyasha had no idea what he was getting himself into, but being a bit of a prankster himself, Souta wasn't about to spoil half the fun.

"Oi, runt, what's so funny?" Inuyasha asked, easily detecting Souta's amusement.

"Oh nothing…" the boy trailed off deliberately. "I just think it's funny how you want to go down there to see the place so badly now, when before you didn't have any interest at all. Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

Snorting, Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he pulled his baggy t-shirt over his head.

"Keh, good thing I'm a _dog_, then, ain't it? I've already seen the place; I know what it looks like. The only thing I'm 'curious' about is what the wench is doing."

Souta crinkled his nose at Inuyasha's nickname for his sister, though deciding to let it go, he teased, "I could just _tell _you what 'the wench' is doing, you know. But on second thought, I think I won't. Why ruin the surprise?"

Inuyasha just snorted again, amused at how Souta was clearly trying to plant a seed of uncertainty in his mind. Inuyasha had no intention of falling victim to the 'frightening' atmosphere of the holiday. He didn't give a rat's ass what the rest of the people at the festival were up to, and when it came to Kagome, all he really cared about was whatever she was doing that was putting all of those strange humans' scents on her hands, and those strange chemical scents on her face. So long as it turned out not to be anything _bad _then he didn't have a problem with it.

Well, that wasn't really true, because he _did _have a problem with strange male scents on Kagome's hands, regardless of the circumstances. But more accurately, so long as it wasn't anything bad, then he wouldn't give _her _any problems _because_ of it.

"Yeah yeah yeah…" he answered aloud after a moment, not taking Souta's bait to demand he tell him what Kagome was up to. He would find out soon enough, after all, and Inuyasha also suddenly had the distinct feeling that Souta had no intention of telling him what his sister was doing, anyway, apparently believing that it was shocking enough that he didn't want to spoil the 'surprise' factor. Inuyasha just snorted again at the thought, then getting serious, he scooped up his bundle of clothing as well as Tetsusaiga.

"Think you can keep guard over this stuff, boy? It's very important."

Souta's eyes widened in genuine surprise, not having really thought about it, but figuring Inuyasha would probably just stash his stuff in his sister's room. That he was going to let him keep his robes and sword in _his _room…

"I…I don't know what to say." Glancing up to meet his hero's eyes, Souta then bowed his head, and murmured, "I won't let you down."

Inuyasha silently put his load in Souta's arms, ruffling the boy's hair before leaping out the window. Yes, he was taking a marginal risk, leaving his fire-rat robes and sword behind, but it would simply be too impractical to take them with him. Besides, it wasn't as if his robes and sword did him a whole lot of good during his human night, anyway. He'd much rather leave them with Souta. That way he knew where they were for easy retrieval.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Inuyasha found he reluctantly had to admit that, although he hated the feel of shoes on his feet, the 'sneakers' he was currently wearing were far better than a pair of sandals that would have made his run virtually impossible. At least he felt secure in that the shoes wouldn't fall from his feet or cause him to slip. Their rubberized grips were _almost _as good as his own skin pads.

Reaching Kagome's school, Inuyasha was amazed to see the place suddenly such a bustle of activity. There were teachers and students running around everywhere, the scent of sugar was stronger in the air now as something fluffy and pink was being produced in one of the snack booths, and guests were already lining up to buy tickets for entry into the main attraction. Quickly tucking himself out of sight, Inuyasha prayed that Kagome hadn't gotten a flash of his youki, knowing that the girl could sense his demonic aura if he got close enough, but also that she could only sense demonic auras from any measurable distance if she were deliberately looking for one. Kagome was easily distracted, as proven by how startled she'd been by his presence in her room the night before.

Dropping down to street level, he found himself an out of the way corner to hide in as he waited, and then it happened. He had timed his departure well, having already known how long it would take him to run to Kagome's school from the shrine, so it was less than five minutes to sunset when he arrived. Feeling the change consume him, Inuyasha did his best not to let his emotions run away with him, as part of him started to feel apprehensive about being out in public, and all by himself, while human. He wasn't falling victim to the mumbo-jumbo 'spookiness' of the holiday, but it was admittedly a little unsettling to be in such an unfamiliar setting during his night of vulnerability, nobody save for Kagome's little brother even knowing where he was. The one thing he knew he had going for him was that there was safety in numbers, and that the 'numbers' buzzing all around him wouldn't turn on him so long as they thought he was a normal human just like they were. There had actually been several occasions in his past, prior to meeting Kikyou, when the fact that he looked like a normal human during the night he lost his powers had been his best disguise. It was _dangerous _for a human man out in the middle of the forests of his time, all alone and unarmed, but near a human village he was much safer. On a few, rare occasions, he had even planned ahead for his pending night of weakness, getting himself into position near a busy trading community; nobody ever suspected he was truly a hanyou in disguise as he walked among them. He had done so in part for the security that being in a crowd of humans had offered him compared to the dangers of the forest, but also, secretly, he had in truth been seeking human contact for _other _reasons. He didn't like being alone anywhere near as much as he often pretended he did.

_I wonder if Kagome knows just how much I truly appreciate her presence in my life_…

While he was sure the wench knew he cared for her as more than just a 'shard detector', he was also equally sure that she still thought her preincarnation was number one in his life. While it was true that he did still have an obligation to Kikyou that he _could not _ignore, how he felt for Kikyou and how he felt for Kagome was entirely different. There was really no way you could rightfully say which one he loved _more _when he loved them both so differently, but if he _had _to choose…

_Keh, and the wench thinks I chose Kikyou way back when, but that had been for her own good_._ I'd just figured it wouldn't be fair to subject Kagome to me constantly running after Kikyou like I do, but she disagreed with me, choosing to stay by my side anyway, and I'm so glad she did_.

He'd overheard Kagome use the expression 'If you love something set it free' in a conversation with Sango not too long ago, regarding why she still continued to allow him to chase after Kikyou, and Inuyasha thought it was the perfect expression. That was why he had originally tried to let her go, back when he'd thought he couldn't see Kagome any more. He had let her go because he loved her, even back then, and what had she done? She'd come back to him. Just like _he _always came back to _her _after his visits with Kikyou. He wondered idly if the wench had figured that part out yet.

Coming around to where everyone was standing, Inuyasha plucked the hair tie from his pocket that Souta had given him and pulled his raven locks back into a low ponytail. He then did his best to just stroll right on into the center of activity as if he had every right to be there. Nobody paid him any attention except for an occasional nod, as he happened to inadvertently make eye contact with someone as he walked by. Souta had given Inuyasha more than enough money to buy a single admission ticket, having explained briefly to the hanyou how their modern-day money worked, also explaining to him how much money he had given him and how expensive the various things at the school fair were. He had enough money to buy himself a snack of some kind, if he wanted to, so since it looked like the haunted maze wasn't quite open for business just yet, he decided to do just that, purchasing himself a soda.

As he waited in line to buy his ticket for the haunted house Inuyasha was relieved to see that he wasn't the only one there in his apparent age group, having feared it would only be parents with children closer to Souta's age. Instead, it looked as if the majority of the crowd was closer to Kagome's age, most likely other students who wanted to have fun at what their own school was doing, even if they hadn't personally had a hand in it. While Inuyasha was in truth a lot older than he looked, he knew he could pass for a student at Kagome's school, and that was just fine with him.

Keeping his eyes pealed for Kagome, Inuyasha did his best to completely ignore everyone else around him, except to occasionally listen in on some passing conversations for the off chance of catching Kagome's name. So far, nothing, but the night was still young.

A sudden scream off to his right had everyone in line with him jumping at the same time, as multiple heads darted to look in the direction of the sound. There they saw a young girl dressed in a school uniform like Kagome's running for her life as she zipped past them, some kind of a wolf-youkai chasing after her. Inuyasha panicked, and was just about to try and run after the pair despite being unarmed and in his human form when the sudden laughter of everyone around him gave him pause.

_Wait a minute…there aren't any ookami-youkai in Kagome's time_… he reminded himself slowly. Kagome had told him once how the Japanese wolf had been hunted to extinction by her century, people afraid that even the mortal canines were secretly demons in disguise. Sure, there were rumors of the occasional sighting, so it was possible there were actually a few still alive, but if so they were _very _rare, and mortal. The wolf-_youkai _was gone for sure, and if not, then they sure as hell wouldn't be roaming the cities chasing schoolgirls.

"I still say I would've made a better werewolf." one of the male students claimed suddenly, pulling Inuyasha from his thoughts.

"Well then you should've applied for it sooner." another student teased.

_That scene was staged_… Inuyasha realized immediately, those two students having been a part of what Mrs. Higurashi had said this whole festival was about, dressing up as different people and acting out their characters so that the guests could pretend to be scared.

But without his senses, how was he supposed to tell what was real and what wasn't? What if a _real _youkai decided to show up, taking advantage of the fact that all of the humans would automatically assume it was fake? How unlikely was such a scenario, truly? After all, _he _was a real youkai – or hanyou, whatever – and he had been invited to attend yesterday's opening night, twice. Had he agreed, then there would in fact have been a real person of youkai descent walking amongst the humans, and they wouldn't have known it.

_Stop it…I'm just letting my stupid human emotions get the better of me_… Inuyasha argued with himself then.

The whole point of this fiasco was to 'let' yourself be scared. He would _not _be afraid. Of anything.

_Keh, I don't need my sense of smell to tell me what's what, like I woulda really had any use of my nose here last night, anyway_. _At least this way I ain't getting' a headache_ _tryin' to deal with that gods awful stench_. _I __know__ there ain't no youkai in Kagome's time, so if I see one, it's a student, simple as that_.

A few more screams could be heard off in the distance somewhere and he did his best to ignore them, though if he'd had his hanyou ears they would have lowered to his head at the sound. Sure, there weren't any other youkai in Kagome's time, or at least he was ninety-five percent certain there weren't any other youkai in Kagome's time, save for spiritually based ones like the soul piper, of course, but what about evil _humans?_ In an environment where everyone was screaming anyway as they pretended to be scared by fake monsters, who would respond to the distant scream of somebody actually being attacked?

Doing his best to shake such thoughts free from his mind, Inuyasha was caught off guard when a flash of red zipped past his peripheral vision. Ignoring it, as he was next up at the ticket booth, Inuyasha purchased one ticket and stepped away, heading over to the line of people waiting to get into the haunted house. Another flash of red caught his attention, then, and he turned to look behind him only for his eyes to widen in surprise. There, seemingly flirting with a group of male students, was what appeared to be a female oni. But no…as he got a better look Inuyasha realized that the girl didn't look any older than Kagome. He would be willing to bet Tetsusaiga that that wench was just a student, herself. In fact, as he got a better look at her, Inuyasha thought that he might even recognize the girl. She kind of looked like one of Kagome's three friends that he'd met a couple of times.

Seeing the way the girl openly smiled at the men she was talking to, showing off a set of fangs in her mouth, Inuyasha felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise on end. He almost lost it completely when she leaned forward and placed her hand on one of the boy's shoulders, whispering something that he couldn't pick up with his useless human ears. She was flirting! She was _touching _a strange man! Granted, he didn't honestly care what Kagome's girlfriends did at this thing, but if Kagome herself were dressed up in anything similar so help them…he would tear the whole damn thing to the ground, youkai powers or no youkai powers! _Nobody _was allowed to flirt with his Kagome!

Inuyasha was so caught up in his thoughts that he barely registered the fact that his line was moving, as he took a few steps forward every time the person in front of him also took a few steps forward. Before he knew it, he was standing at the entrance to the maze, another wench around Kagome's age dressed up in tattered black clothing reaching out her hand as she asked him for his ticket.

Complying, Inuyasha did his best to get his raging thoughts and emotions back under control as he entered the building. He only had one shot at this, and he did _not _want to miss his opportunity to spot Kagome and spy on her. Provided that whatever she was doing seemed harmless enough he'd let it go, passing right on through while leaving the wench none the wiser to his presence. If, on the other hand, she were dressed up as some kind of a sultry oni who flirted with men so that she could devour their souls, he would drag her ass outta there, kicking and screaming if he had to. It wasn't like anyone else would pay any attention to her screaming, anyway, and even if he ended up 'devouring' dirt as a result he at least knew that Kagome would have to wait until after sunrise to exact her revenge. The one benefit to being human, besides the whole 'undercover operation' thing he currently had going on, was that the subduing command of the rosary didn't work.

Coming into the first main room of the haunted maze, Inuyasha marveled for a moment at how much creepier the place really looked when he was forced to use weak human eyes to adjust to the tiny amounts of light that were sprinkled in around him. The flicker of candles illuminated what looked like a private study; fake candles because he could clearly see there was no flame although the special bulbs they used did a fairly good job of replicating the look. There was also some strange kind of music that was being pumped into the room from somewhere that almost seemed to amplify the 'spooky' feel of the room, though he refused to fall victim to their spell so easily. Glancing curiously at an open book he didn't remember seeing on the desk before, though he probably just hadn't been paying close enough attention during his trial walk-through, Inuyasha found himself noticing how the calligraphy in the book stopped abruptly, as though whomever had been writing it had literally been snatched from their seat mid-stroke, the last character in the book getting smeared from the brush being yanked away.

A thumping sound from down the hall followed immediately by a yell and screams quickly drew his attention then, and he exited the study to enter the narrow hallway that led into the next room.

_I remember this_… he thought, as he passed by the wall of oni paintings. The last one kind of looked like a demonic Noh mask.

He was not expecting the painting to suddenly drop down with a loud thud, revealing a person wearing the exact same demon mask as in the painting as they yelled out at the top of their lungs.

"Gah!" Inuyasha cried in return, jumping back in surprise, only to immediately feel embarrassed over the fact that somebody had actually managed to startle him.

_Startled_

They had _startled _him.

He wasn't _scared_.

Feh!

The snickering from the group of people coming in behind him didn't help his self-esteem any, but the screaming and yelling he could hear originating from deeper within the maze also didn't help his rapid heartbeat. Across from him, amused eyes shown from within the wooden mask, as the male student pulled a lever from inside the wall that raised the painting back in place, getting ready for his next victim.

_Okay, so these bastards are pretty good at getting the drop on people, I'll just have to stay on guard_…Inuyasha told himself as he salvaged what was left of his pride and finished exiting the hallway.

Entering the next large room, Inuyasha's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

_That…that's not paint!_

The room with the table in the corner that had looked like it was splashed with paint or ink of some type was now illuminated by a single lamp in the opposite corner, revealing the deep crimson color of the stains on the wall and flooring. The once empty room was now occupied by two persons, although perhaps truly only one person, as the other one appeared lifeless on the table. A girl, who had apparently been stabbed to death, was covered in what at least _looked _like blood, a crazy man crouching over her, cooing to her how pretty she was, as if they were lovers in bed. Upon noticing Inuyasha's horrific stare, the man darted his head up.

Glaring daggers at the hanyou-turned-human, and wielding a large butcher knife, he cried out, "No! You can't have her! She's _mine!" _

Not wanting to argue Inuyasha quickly scurried himself out of that room.

_Okay…this is a little more messed up than I'd thought it would be_…

That scene had clearly been faked, but he hadn't expected Kagome's friends to be…such good actors. What a messed up thing to do! Did these guys really find amusement in pretending they'd just witnessed one of their classmates murdered on a table? What was _wrong _with these people? And Kagome was a part of this?

_Only for the extra credit…_ he reminded himself, trying to convince himself that Kagome wasn't really as sick in the head as these other people were. She was just doing this because she _had _to, to repair her grades. She'd said so herself.

Entering the room of dots, it took Inuyasha a moment to get his bearings. In total darkness, his youkai night vision had permitted him to see the dots painted on the walls and hanging from the ceiling, but they had appeared bland, faded gray, and he hadn't understood their significance. Were they supposed to represent lost souls? But now that he had his weaker, albeit full color _human_ night vision, Inuyasha realized with a dizzying shake of his head that those dots were not gray. Obnoxiously bright florescent greens, oranges, pinks and blues assaulted him, with some kind of bizarre lighting effect that literally made the dots appear to jump out at him. They were also _moving_. Or at least, he could've sworn they looked like they were. Was that wall panel getting closer? Did that dot from the ceiling just get lower? Darting his head back and forth as he desperately tried to follow any hint of movement, the crazy, low base thumbing of a heartbeat rhythm that was being fed into the room via hidden speakers did nothing to ease his troubled mind. When a shadow moved off to his right, he couldn't be sure if he was really seeing something or if his eyes were just playing tricks on him.

_Stupid weak human vision! _

Taking a moment to glance down at his hands as he cursed his human transformation, he was caught off guard when he realized his weak human fingernails were actually glowing a strange yellowish color in the lighting of this room. Glancing further down over himself he noticed how his shoelaces were also glowing. How was that possible?

Shaking his head again, Inuyasha realized he couldn't afford to get distracted by the funny lights. This room must be meant to throw everyone off their equilibrium. Suddenly realizing he thought he could make out the shape of a person reaching out for him, Inuyasha did his best to shuffle towards the exit, telling himself he was _not _afraid of the student that was simply dressed up in a black ninja suit covered in matching dots. He wasn't afraid; the bright colors were just giving him a headache. That was all.

_Holy crap_…

Entering the round hallway, Inuyasha was momentarily blinded by a repetitive, bright flashing light, making the neon orange and yellow stripes of the curved wall and ceiling wink in and out of existence. Was the tunnel actually _moving?_ A weird kind of melody playing quietly in the background almost seemed to aid in the sensation of falling as the tunnel-hallway turned at a steady, fairly rapid pace. It was all Inuyasha could do to walk in a straight line with those stripes turning and flashing all around him. The strange light from the dot room was also still present because during every moment of darkness the stripes around him seemed to glow just like the dots had, but the bright flashes of white light following immediately afterwards were making the florescent stripes in the tunnel burn his eyes. It felt like the platform he was walking on was tilting sideways as he did his best to keep his balance, the back wall at the end of the hallway he was heading towards also turning, the spiral painted on it also glowing, and almost seeming as if it was trying to pull him towards it.

Finally reaching the end of the hall, Inuyasha practically threw himself towards the left, recalling that the next room in this maze was the coalmine. Taking a moment to gather his bearings and shake the dancing spots free from his vision, it was hard for him to make out very much in the low lighting of the mine, a single flickering lantern in the corner providing barely enough light to see by. No longer was that room empty, either. The fake skeleton was just where he remembered it, but now there was also a student present, dressed up as a miner, his face covered in coal. He was just working away, swinging a pickax, but pausing in his work as if sensing he had a visitor, the coalminer turned to glance in Inuyasha's direction then. The hanyou was shocked to discover the man's eyes were pure white. Was that just fake makeup? How had that been accomplished? You couldn't put makeup on your _eyes_. Then Inuyasha noticed something else, the sound of picking was still taking place, even though the man had stopped swinging his pick. Something caught his eye off to the other side, then, and he noticed what looked like a semi-transparent image of a man flickering in and out of existence. The ghost miner was also swinging a pickax, and the 'ding' sound of metal against rock that was echoing throughout the room matched in perfect timing with his swing.

_That can't be real, it's just an illusion_…he told himself. How could there be a _real _coalminer ghost in a _fake _coalmine?

Getting some of his bravado back, Inuyasha headed into the next room, the one full of long wooden boxes. One of those boxes was now open, revealing a woman dressed in strange black clothing. She was just lying there. Was she supposed to be dead? Were these boxes perhaps meant for holding human bodies? They did look to be about the right size. Suddenly, the eyes of the woman lying next to him popped open, and turning her head, she hissed at him. She _hissed _at him! She also had fangs in her mouth and he could only imagine she was supposed to be some sort of youkai or another. Continuing to walk through the room, he did his best not to jump when the lid of another coffin swung open, revealing a male youkai that time. A third student, also male, appeared from within a hidden pocket in the wall, and Inuyasha almost found himself snickering at their weak attempts at being scary. A little hissing and fang baring didn't bother him; not with the number of youkai he'd faced in his long life.

Leaving the hissers to themselves, Inuyasha brushed the black curtain aside to step into the tunnel of darkness, and froze.

_Crap, I can't see a thing! _

When he had done his preliminary walkthrough he hadn't been surprised by the total darkness because one, the place had been closed and therefore all of the lights had been turned off, and two, with his enhanced youkai vision he hadn't _needed _any light to see by, anyway. But upon entering the maze now that he was human, Inuyasha had expected the whole place to be lighted at least enough to see where he was going. How could they expect any human to find their way out of this?

_At least I know where the curtain is on the other side, so I'll just go slowly_… he decided then, sticking his arms out in front of him as he carefully shuffled towards the other side. A loud roar followed immediately by a bloodcurdling scream had him jumping back a pace.

"Come on, don't be a pansy, you know it ain't real." he told himself quietly as he began shuffling forward once more.

The unexpected sensation of cold air blowing on his neck had him jumping to the side again. Was someone in there with him?

_Bah, no other human would be able to see in here any better than I can_… he told himself as he continued to gradually make his way towards the exit. Had this hallway been this long before?

A shifting floorboard nearly had him falling on his butt as he almost lost his balance, and steadying himself, an eerie voice whispering "I can see you…" nearly did him in.

_Okay, that's it_. Inuyasha thought frantically as he darted towards where he believed the back curtain to be located, hands out in front of him. Finding it and quickly pulling it aside, he was not expecting the sudden bright flash of light that went off in his face, making him see a floating green dot for a moment as his weak human vision ran around in circles screaming. So distracted as he was, Inuyasha completely forgot about the black sewing thread hanging from the ceiling that he walked right into, jumping back and quickly bringing his hands to his face to brush off the heebie-jeebie sensation as he walked forward in a disoriented fashion.

He did not notice the monster lying in wait, preparing to make her move.

"_**RAWR!"**_

"AHHHH!"

Spying her next victim, Kagome had waited until just the right moment, and right when he was within grabbing distance, she lunged. Growling low in a voice wholly not her own, she latched onto the man's arm, absolutely delighted when he shrieked back at her unexpected presence. Snarling and snapping her jaws, Kagome was the picture-perfect image of every newer zombie movie she'd ever seen. Granted, wandering around aimlessly with your arms held forward and groaning "Brains." was marginally spooky in its own right, but timeless classic or no, the future-born miko much preferred the zombies you _couldn't _so easily out run. The ones who were a result of some horrible mad science experiment gone wrong. The ones who were extremely contagious if they _bit _you.

Of course, she had absolutely no intention of biting anyone. As a natural instinctive reaction, everyone always tried to yank their arm out of her grasp, and she would let them, and then as they ran she would chase after them for a moment, allowing them to feel relieved when they successfully 'escaped'.

That was the plan, anyway. The principle had warned her – and everyone else playing a monster – that haunted mazes didn't always go according to plan.

Instead of struggling to get free, her current victim struck back, and the next thing Kagome knew, she was pinned against the wall, a hand on her throat. She wasn't sure what to do next, but taking a moment to truly get a good look at her victim-turned-attacker, her eyes immediately widened in surprise.

Inuyasha freaked.

Some horribly disgusting looking _thing _had just launched out at him and grabbed a hold of his arm, and now it was snarling at him and trying to take a chunk out of him. Temporarily losing his higher brain functions when his 'fight or flight' reflex kicked on, Inuyasha reached out with his other hand and shoved back on the creature's neck, keeping its teeth away from him as he pressed it against the wall. He might not have his youkai strength, but even as a human he was pretty damn strong. No way would this monster make a midnight snack out of him!

Of course, the whole procedure only took about two seconds, and as he held the monster against the sidewall of the maze by its throat, recognizing a pair of frightened, human eyes staring back at him, he realized with a growing sensation of dread that he'd just attacked a human. Just a human, wearing makeup.

_Wearing facial makeup…_

Hadn't Kagome pointed at her face when she'd claimed the night before that she had removed all of her makeup?

_Those eyes_…

But before he could even say anything, the wench actually beat him to it.

"…Inuyasha?" she croaked out hesitantly, and he immediately released the pressure on her throat.

Maybe curiosity really did kill the dog, because Kagome was surely going to kill him after this. Looking at his hand in disgust, as if he wanted to burn the traitor for daring to strike against his precious Kagome, he was only mildly surprised to note how some of her white makeup had rubbed off on him. Glancing back at her, though, the makeup on her neck still looked to be intact, at least as far as the other patrons would be concerned. There weren't any glaring red handprints, at least.

_I can't believe I just-_

"It is you, isn't it?" Kagome asked him next, pulling him from his thoughts, her voice hoarse more from all of her constant growling and yelling than his rough handling, though he didn't know that.

"Kami…Kagome, I'm-"

A bright flash interrupted him, and the next thing he knew Kagome was shoving him back into her secret pocket in the wall, which was barely big enough for her alone, but she couldn't let him go just yet. They needed to talk.

"Hold that thought." she told him in a whisper, and doing his best to ignore the unexpected sensation of suddenly having Kagome pressed flush up against him, he got to observe from behind the scenes as the miko waited for the next perfect moment to strike.

Spying her next victim, that same group of friends who had been trailing after him the entire time and who'd laughed at him getting scared by the dropping painting, Kagome made her move. Jumping out of her hiding place, she snarled deep in her throat as she latched onto the arm of a girl, a girl who screamed bloody murder while her other friends just laughed. Struggling to get free, Kagome let the girl think she had managed to escape just like someone playing tug-o-war with their dog might let the dog think it'd won by pretending to lose their grip on the toy. As everyone scurried into the graveyard beyond Kagome's crypt, she didn't give chase like she normally did, instead going back to her pocket in the wall, where a very confused, agitated, guilty and mildly embarrassed man was waiting for her.

"So…" the miko started nervously, unsure of what to say.

Inuyasha could barely even look at her. Her makeup was horrific, true, but it wasn't really that. He still couldn't believe he'd tried to choke her. What was the matter with him? Even though he hadn't known it was Kagome at first, he sure as hell should have remembered that it wasn't a real monster!

"I'm not mad at you for attacking me, you know." she spoke up then, easily recognizing the look in his eyes. "It's a warning we all got, everyone who signed up for this. Anyone might possibly get spooked enough that they take a swing at us. It's just a risk we have to take. I'm not worried because after everything I've faced in your time, what's a light bruise or two?"

"That's no excuse." he argued quietly, still refusing to meet her eyes.

"Okay, then how about the fact that you've lived for over a century out on your own in the wilds of a world where every living thing you've ever come across has wanted you dead, and tonight you're at your most vulnerable? Is _that _a good enough excuse? Besides, you didn't hurt me, so don't worry about it. No harm done. I'm sorry I scared you."

"Feh…didn't scare me." he denied lamely, a faint grin creeping up his lips as he dared cast a glance Kagome's way. He couldn't see very well in their dark little pocket, but there was enough light coming in for him to catch her eyes. Those sweet, kind, caring, forgiving, _understanding _eyes.

A bright flash indicated the arrival of more victims, and Kagome excused herself to go do her thing again. He had to admit, it was actually kind of amusing to watch everything happen from the other side. When he wasn't one of the hapless victims himself, it was really kind of funny watching the other humans get scared out of their wits.

"So what are you even doing here?" Kagome asked him when she returned again. "Did Souta put you up to this?"

"Actually," he admitted sheepishly. "Your brother did help me a little, but it was my idea. I wanted to come see what you were doing without you knowing it."

Instant understanding dawned inside Kagome's eyes.

"The scents on me…the human scents, on my hands…"

"Yeah…" he agreed, adding, "But I guess…if all your doin' is grabbin' onto people pretending you're about to eat 'em, and then they run for their lives, well that ain't so bad."

Taking a deep breath and surprising himself with how strongly her makeup stunk, even to his human nose, he added, "But you had _better _take a _damn _good bath before returning to my time!"

Giggling, Kagome held up her hand and said, "Promise." before darting off to get her next victim.

Escorting Inuyasha through the graveyard, then, the hanyou-turned-human was amused when the other monsters merely gave him a curious look as he walked beside Kagome rather than running from her. It was easy to deduce that he knew the girl. Kagome wasn't the only one to have a friend come see her in action, after all. Passing through the grave Kagome stopped when the scene changed to the hill with the old well, not wanting to get too far away from her post lest she miss her cue.

"You gonna be all right by yourself until midnight?" she asked.

"Keh, don't worry 'bout me. I'll hang around till you're done."

Nodding, Kagome turned and scurried back to her post. Grinning a bit and shaking his head, Inuyasha's attention was drawn in the direction of a woman dressed in a gray kimono, moaning to herself quietly like some sort of lost spirit. As he walked past the fake well he jumped one last time as a goblin-looking thing leapt up out of its center with a loud shriek, then chuckling to himself that he'd fallen victim to the spookiness, after all, he exited the maze…sure enough…with a feeling of joy.


	3. Thriller Night

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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Chapter 3 – Thriller Night

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It wasn't hard for Inuyasha to keep himself busy as he waited for the rest of the night to go by. Picking up the spectator sport of people watching, he observed from a quiet corner of the parking lot all of the other people who came and went. It wasn't really that bad of a festival, after all. Observing as the girl dressed up as the red-haired youkai continued her routine, sneaking up on some people and openly flirting with others, it didn't take Inuyasha long to notice that she had red eyes, as well. Sometimes they would catch in the parking lot lighting and shine _almost_ just as brightly as a true youkai's eyes shined red at night.

_I guess the humans can put makeup on their eyes, after all_… he thought, thinking back on the miner with white eyes in the maze. He was glad Kagome hadn't put any coloring over her eyes, or it might have taken him a moment longer to recognize her, although he supposed her murmuring his name would've been a dead give away…no pun intended.

Chuckling to himself as the 'werewolf' ran by a second time, still chasing after that same poor, defenseless schoolgirl who shrieked at the top of her lungs, the hanyou-turned-human did have to admit that Kagome had been right, after all. It _was_ kind of fun. Watching as another male student dressed up as some kind of reptilian youkai lurked in the crowds, doing his best to sneak up on unsuspecting victims, Inuyasha thought that it didn't look so bad, being one of the actors at the festival whose job was to frighten other people. Of course, he wasn't a fool. He was still on alert to make sure no bandits decided to show up and cause any real trouble using the fake screams as their cover, but so far everything seemed quiet in that regard. He was still a little on the fence about whether or not it was actually okay to allow himself to feel light and carefree for one night, but he had already told himself that he could feel guilty about it later if he wanted to. For right now, though, he was going to do his best to enjoy himself, whether he deserved it or not. Besides, what would being miserable accomplish? Yes, he still had responsibilities in his time, but they weren't going anywhere anyway while Kagome needed to be here to fulfill _her_ responsibilities with her school, so when the choice became go along with her and at least try to have a good time versus sit by himself and brood in misery, was there really that much of a choice?

_Besides, I did the brooding in misery thing last night_._ Time for something different_.

He was well aware of the fact that it was most likely his human emotions that were aiding him with reaching such a conclusion, but for the time being, since he was _still _human, he honestly didn't care. What would happen once he turned hanyou again? He'd worry about that tomorrow.

Kagome found him easily enough once the haunted maze closed down for the night, approaching his position with all of her zombie makeup still intact.

"There's no way I'm walking home looking like this…" she told him behind a chuckle, pointing at her face. "So if you want to come with me into the school for a minute, I'll wash up in one of the bathrooms real quick and then we can go."

Making a show of gagging at the decomposing appearance of her face, he answered, "Good, 'cause there ain't no way I'm walkin' home with you lookin' like that, either!"

Laughing good-naturedly, Kagome led Inuyasha through the back door of her school that had been left open for students to retrieve their belongings and change out of their costumes once the night was over. Leaving the hanyou-turned-human in the hall for only a moment, Kagome utilized the ability to change clothes quickly that she had picked up from her months of travel in the Feudal era, never knowing what…or sometimes simply _who_…might be spying in the bushes as she changed. When her friends asked her who the raven-haired boy was waiting for her out in the hall, quickly remembering that they had already met her 'boyfriend' and knew that he had white hair, Kagome said that he was a friend of Inuyasha's she'd met a few times that she'd just bumped into in the maze, and that she'd decided to walk with him to be nice since his home was on her way. Fortunately, they accepted her explanation without issue and let the matter drop. The miko had feared for a moment that they were going to ask her about Inuyasha in some capacity or another, but luckily the subject didn't come up. Reemerging from the girls' locker room once she was dressed in her normal clothing, Kagome quickly grabbed Inuyasha's hand and led him down the hall to the nearest unoccupied bathroom.

"Technically this is the girls' room, but since it's just the two of us you can come in if you want to. No one'll notice."

Shrugging, Inuyasha complied, following Kagome into the brightly lit room full of toilets and sinks. Heading for the first sink she saw, Kagome immediately turned on the water, leaned forward, and then proceeded to scrub at her face and neck with a squirt of hand soap. She figured it would be better to actually wash her face rather than using the makeup remover solution she had in her bag, for his nose's sake come sunrise. Some of the latex came off from just her scrubbing, and some she needed to finish pulling off with her fingers; Inuyasha was amazed to watch as all of the little pieces of fake rotting skin flowed down the drain.

Drying her face, Kagome then took a minute to run her brush through her hair, smoothing it down while dispelling the powder at the same time. Glancing back in the mirror, she felt she looked _marginally _more presentable.

"I still look like the walking dead." she snickered, making note of her red, irritated face and still somewhat frizzy hair. Not to mention blackened teeth. Oops. Grabbing another paper towel she quickly wiped off the lipstick on her teeth, then reaching into her bag she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Okay, all ready, I suppose." Kagome said after rinsing her mouth, giving herself one last look over in the mirror to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything else while running her tube of Chap Stick over her dry lips.

"Keh, you look fine."

Smiling up at him, Kagome giggled at the way he immediately blushed when she reached forward to grab his hand.

"Come on, let's get you somewhere safe."

"Ah-hah!" he teased as they exited the bathroom. "So you admit that your school _isn't _safe!"

Rolling her eyes, Kagome decided not to argue as she and Inuyasha left her school and headed down the sidewalk towards her home, still hand in hand.

_It must be because of his human night_… the miko reasoned, telling herself not to get her hopes up.

"So…" she started after a moment, waiting until she saw him glance her way before continuing. "Did you have a good time?"

"Keh…you mean, did you and your friends scare the crap outta me?"

She giggled.

"Yeah…I had a good time."

"I'm glad," she replied sincerely. "Life in your world right now, it's so intense, and while I'm not complaining, because I know _I _have just as much of a duty and responsibility to fulfill as _you _do, it's nice to be able to take a break, and at least _pretend _that everything is okay."

She almost lost her footing when Inuyasha surprised her by suddenly squeezing her hand.

"Maybe…maybe everything really _is _okay."

"Inuyasha?"

"Keh." _Stupid human emotions…_

"I'm glad…" Kagome continued after a moment, "That you decided to come 'spy' on me."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice as he cocked his head to the side, glancing her way. "You sure you're not just sayin' that 'cause you can't _osuwari _me for it yet?"

With a touch of amusement in her own voice, Kagome replied, "Yes I'm sure." Then wondering if she could get him to blush again, she added, "It really touched me, to know how deeply you care."

"Feh!" he grumbled embarrassedly, yanking his hand free from her grasp as crimson stained his cheeks.

Giggling behind her hand and figuring she better change the subject before he clamed up completely, she asked, "So what are your plans for tomorrow night? Are you going to go back to your side of the well to wait for me? Or did you want to come down to my school again?"

"I…" he started, only to pause and truly give the matter some thought. "I _could _go back to that festival with you, couldn't I?"

"MmmHmm…" Kagome answered in the affirmative, adding, "And since tomorrow is Halloween night, I was thinking that maybe afterwards, we could even wander around for a while instead of heading straight back to the shrine, if you wanted to, since just about everyone roaming the streets will be in costume and you wouldn't have to worry about standing out with your hanyou features."

Reaching a hand up into his hair, Inuyasha combed his fingers through his raven locks, rubbing the spot of his head where his hanyou ears were usually located. As they continued to walk down the sidewalk, Kagome went on to explain that instead of just hanging out as a guest, he could even officially _work_ at the haunted house, if he wanted to, because they were allowed to bring friends. It was all just volunteer work, after all; giving extra credit was just an insentive to give most students a reason to volunteer when they otherwise wouldn't want to 'waste' their holiday. Most of the volunteers actually came in the form of the students who had helped to build the haunted maze in the first place; it was surprisingly hard to find kids willing to work it come Halloween night.

"I'll think about it." he told her then as they reached the shrine steps, glancing away shyly at the way she beamed up at him. Kagome knew that 'I'll think about it' meant yes, because if the answer was _no _he most certainly would've said so.

Wishing he had his hanyou strength in that moment so that he could launch both he and Kagome to the top of the stairs, he didn't say anything negative about his human limitations aloud as he instead walked quietly with the girl up the stone steps, making their way to her family's home. Tiptoeing their way inside the genkan, Kagome wordlessly bent down to assist Inuyasha with removing his shoes before slipping off her own. Padding into the living room in twin sets of socks, the hanyou-turned-human followed Kagome silently up the stairs and towards her bedroom, relieved that her mother apparently hadn't decided to stay up for her since he wasn't sure how he'd explain his presence after having snuck after Kagome in secret. He didn't see the elder Higurashi woman smiling in the doorway to the kitchen as she quietly sipped her tea.

Reaching Kagome's bedroom, Inuyasha let the miko head in first so that the girl could change into her pajamas, while he bugged Souta who didn't mind getting up at all to help his hero change back into his own wardrobe. Entering Kagome's bedroom himself once he was dressed in his traditional fire-rat clothing, there was some mild arguing when Inuyasha attempted to take up his customary position on the floor leaning against the wall and Kagome tried to protest saying how, since he was currently human, it would be much better for him to lay down in a real bed for the night. Of course, that argument led to Inuyasha's insistence that he had no intention of getting any sleep, which Kagome immediately combated with _her _insistence that he should get whatever rest he could get while he could get it, knowing all too well how hard it usually was for him to allow himself any measurable amounts of slumber while out on the road. The hanyou-turned-human relented, eventually, since he knew she wouldn't 'shut up about it' until he complied, crawling into Kagome's bed with a deep crimson staining his cheeks. Blushing lightly herself at the notion of sharing her bed with a boy, Kagome remained firm in her belief that Inuyasha needed the rest. Not wishing to make him feel any more uncomfortable than she could tell he already did, she resisted her desire to snuggle against him, knowing she had no business getting so familiar with him while so many aspects of their relationship remained unspoken. Scooting towards the wall, then, she allowed Inuyasha as much space on the narrow bed as she could muster.

Kagome awoke the following morning shortly after dawn, not truly surprised to find that Inuyasha's side of the bed was empty, though it did bring a smile to her lips when she also discovered that his side of the bed was still warm. He hadn't crawled back down to the floor after she'd fallen asleep. Heading downstairs she found the inu-hanyou, restored to all his demonic glory, sitting quietly at the kitchen table while her mother worked on that morning's breakfast preparations.

Inuyasha glanced her way for a moment as she entered the kitchen, promptly looking away again as a light crimson dusted his cheeks. He had woken up at the crack of dawn, his transformation back into a hanyou pulling him from the deepest slumber he could ever remember experiencing. Then upon realizing he had just slept in Kagome's bed all night long, lying next to the miko herself, no less, he had bolted from her room before he could think, too afraid of what he might want to do were she to awaken and greet him while they'd remained lying next to one another. He wasn't the pervert, but he'd had a vision of leaning over her and giving her a good morning kiss, and he knew he couldn't afford to think of such nonsense while there were still so many uncertainties regarding their mission in the past.

As distracted as he'd been in his desire to get away from Kagome before she woke, he'd completely forgotten that the rest of her family, save for Souta, was not aware of his current presence in their house. Or at least, that had been what he'd believed until Mrs. Higurashi had bid him a pleasant good morning, offering him a cup of tea while she went about fixing breakfast. She'd grinned at him knowingly but had fortunately left the subject alone, so accepting the tea with a light blush he'd taken a seat at the table to await the morning meal, secretly rejoicing in how Kagome's mother always managed to make him feel welcomed.

It was true, there were many uncertainties both he and Kagome still faced in the past, so now wasn't the time for daydreaming of a peaceful future in the company of people who loved and accepted him, but at least knowing that such people existed gave him a reason to keep fighting, to keep striving for the day when such a future would no longer be a fantasy. Still, as irresponsible as it might seem, for at least one more night, for that night, he would continue to allow himself to feel happy and have fun. Yes, it had originally been his human emotions that had made him susceptible to the addictive attraction of playfully frightening people just for the fun of it, but now that he was a hanyou again, he had decided that he still didn't honestly think it was that much of a waste of time. Well…admittedly he _would_ have insisted that it was a waste of time if it weren't for the fact that Kagome actually _needed _to do it for her grades, regardless of how fun it actually was, but so since she really did need to be there as part of her schooling, anyway, what was so wrong with allowing oneself to enjoy an extracurricular assignment? And so yeah, _he _wasn't a student at her school, but nobody else needed to know that.

_Keh, minor details…_he thought as he continued to sip his tea in silence, watching with a lazy half-smile as Kagome assisted her mother with breakfast.

Now that he knew just how much fun her school festival could really be, he was actually looking forward to going back with his hanyou powers intact, although he wouldn't be going as a visitor this time around. Kagome had explained the night before that it would be okay for him to officially get on the team, as it were. Now, as he observed the happy way in which the miko bounced around the kitchen, already starting to talk with her mother about how much fun that upcoming night was going to be, he couldn't decide which one of them was looking forward to it more.

Breakfast was a peaceful affair. Inuyasha ended up coming clean to her mother, playfully, about the prank he'd intended to pull on Kagome the night before, editing it so that it seemed more like he'd wanted to surprise her rather than spy on her in his overprotective jealousy with intent on dragging her out of there if he hadn't liked what he'd seen. Of course, he left out the part about attacking her in his moment of blind panic, though he did razz Souta that he'd gotten him good with his own prank, since Kagome had most certainly gotten the drop on him. Openly discussing their plans for him to actively work at the school fair with Kagome for its final night, the miko's grandfather even cracked a smile when he said how if there was one thing Inuyasha was good at, besides lifting heavy boxes, it was looking like the youkai monster that he was. Mrs. Higurashi attempted to reprimand her father-in-law for his words, but surprisingly enough Inuyasha took no offense. Jii-chan had said he looked like a _youkai; _the hanyou had actually taken it as a compliment.

Since there wasn't really all that much that needed to be done in the way of preparation for the upcoming third and final night of the maze, Kagome and Inuyasha headed out during the day to get some much needed shopping out of the way…after she took a quick shower, of course. The lingering scent of latex and other chemicals on her skin still bothered his nose, not to mention all of the mingled scents of the various 'victims' she'd latched onto throughout the night, though Inuyasha had actually been pretty good about it, much to the miko's relief. Discreetly crinkling his nose when he thought she wasn't looking, Inuyasha had not mentioned anything about it at all, although Kagome had pleased him by revealing that she hadn't forgotten. It had truthfully only bothered him as strongly as it had that first night because he hadn't been expecting it and he had been confused. Now that he at least knew what all of the scents _were, _it didn't really bother him all that much that some of them still clung to her, although it was greatly appreciated when she opted to hop in the shower before heading out, anyway. Heading down to the grocery store, then, they stocked up on some run of the mill supplies they would need for their mission in his time, including more ramen and other food items, first aid items, matches, and batteries for her flashlight.

Inuyasha was delighted that Kagome didn't force him to wear the hat, saying how even though the holiday was traditionally only celebrated at night, the fact that it _was _Halloween day excused his appearance well enough. Nobody would suspect that he was a real youkai, at least. In fact, Inuyasha received several mixed reactions while they were out, including everything from people whispering behind his back that he was too old for playing dress-up, to teasing him to his face that he was a fanatic for dressing up so early in the day, to even down right complementing him on how 'realistic' his costume looked, but suspicious or uneasy glances were _not _among any of the looks shot his way while he and Kagome were shopping.

Speaking of the miko, she was totally psyched by the time it was time to head down to her school. Finding one of the teachers she quickly introduced Inuyasha, explaining that he was a home-schooled friend of hers that wanted to help out just for the fun of it. They could certainly use an extra set of hands out in the parking lot, so he was officially put on 'line duty', which worked out perfectly since that had actually been his request. The maze would bother his nose too much, and besides, there was really nowhere convenient within the maze to stick him, anyway, since all of the intended positions had already been filled. Being another person wandering the parking lot and getting people in 'the mood' was perfect for him. Kagome's teacher certainly didn't mind, the more the merrier! But that way he was officially on the list so that nobody from the school would think he was just some random weirdo who had taken it upon himself to show up and start harassing the other guests. Some of the guests were in costume, after all, though not very many. But that was why both Kagome and her mother had originally invited Inuyasha down as a guest on that first night, knowing that he would have been accepted as a guest who had merely decided to dress up. Now that he would actively be working on freaking out the other guests waiting in line, however, he needed to be on the list as an 'employee' so that he didn't get in any trouble with the school.

There were also a few rules he needed to follow.

Mainly, he was allowed to touch people, gently, but he was _not _allowed to be too rough with anyone, even if someone was too rough with him. Even if somebody up and decked him one, he wasn't allowed to swing back. Remembering how he had momentarily spazzed and attacked Kagome, his ears lowered in shame, though thankfully the teacher didn't notice as he then went on to explain how snacks were not free to the volunteers, so he better not be caught helping himself to a soda or candy bar without paying for it. That wasn't going to be a problem, the hanyou thought as he patted the small pouch in his robes.

Inuyasha always forgot how complicated everything was in Kagome's time, so he was glad that he had decided to openly acknowledged his desire to go back with the miko, rather than telling her no out of some twisted sense of pride only to sneak back down there himself to have some fun once she was already tucked within the maze and wouldn't be aware of his presence. The last thing he wanted to do was get Kagome in any kind of trouble with her sensei, if _he _got in any trouble with one of the teachers and it later came out that he knew Kagome and was only really there because of her. Having also let Kagome's family know of their plans, Mrs. Higurashi had surprised him by slipping him some money, so paying for a snack, should he happen to want one, definitely wouldn't be a problem. He hadn't spent all of Souta's money the night before, but what he hadn't used he'd already returned to the boy, figuring he didn't need any money this time around since he wouldn't be buying a ticket to get into the maze, and it wasn't like he really _needed _any of the concession stand junk food being pedaled. But Kagome's mother had insisted anyway, saying it was for whatever he wanted, just in case. It _was_ Halloween, after all, a night of treating oneself to exceedingly high levels of sugar. Snorting to himself in amusement as he'd easily detected the not-so-subtle sarcasm in her voice as she'd glanced in Souta's direction while making her statement, Inuyasha had accepted Mrs. Higurashi's generosity without another word.

Smirking as Kagome emerged from the girl's locker room in all her zombie glory, Inuyasha walked with her for a moment as she got into position in the maze. It was a different experience all over again to see the interior of the maze with all of the lights on _and _his youkai vision intact. With his vision remaining in color, he had a much more vivid experience in the polka dot room, the fluorescents literally jumping out at him, though thanks to his enhanced sight he could also easily make out the shadowed figure lurking in the corner, noting the distortions in the black background that gave away the student's shape as he stood with his back against the wall. Inuyasha barked out a laugh at the way all of Kagome's latex scabs glowed under the black light, making her look more like somebody who had been splashed in the face with radioactive acid, though of course he didn't think of that analogy. He just thought she looked funny.

The faintest hint of blood was still noticeable in the air, though nowhere near as much as would be present were the giant crimson splashes all over the 'murder' scene real blood. Upon his concerned inquiry, Kagome explained that a few cuts and scrapes were bound to happen here and there. Some of the volunteers who'd built the maze in the first place had probably cut themselves during its construction, if nothing else. He shrugged it off then, figuring that she was probably right and knowing that whatever it was, the traces were much too faint to indicate anyone had been seriously hurt. Since it wasn't _Kagome's _blood, he wasn't going to worry about it.

Heading out of the maze via one of the discreet 'employee only' doors, Inuyasha met up with his fellow monsters in the back of the parking lot. The werewolf and schoolgirl were all set to do their occasional run-bys, and then there was also Yuka the Oni, and that other male student dressed up as some kind of reptilian youkai. Nobody gave Inuyasha any trouble for joining the team on the last day. In fact, Yuka was happy to see that 'Kagome's boyfriend' had been able to get out for the night, since the miko had explained to her three school friends that Inuyasha lived at a rural shrine that was very far away. The story was that they had met when Kagome had been sent to his shrine for the first time, for their knowledge in ancient medicines, because of all of her chronic illnesses. Fortunately, Inuyasha was more or less familiar with the story her friends had been told regarding how he and Kagome knew each other, though being referred to as the miko's boyfriend had his cheeks darkening a smidge. Luckily for him, the humans couldn't see very well in the low lighting of twilight, and so nobody noticed.

"All right, show time." the faux lizard youkai said with a smirk as the crowds started lining up.

It didn't take Inuyasha long to get into the swing of things. Sneaking up on the backside of one of the concession stands he winked at the student working the booth, taking money in exchange for sodas or candy. Creeping around the side of the small, portable building, he was ready and waiting when the first group of people left the booth with their purchases. Suddenly, there he was, fangs bared and hand raised in a deadly gesture as he growled at them while flexing his claws. A couple of the girls squeaked while everyone in the group jumped back a pace in surprise, then laughing they gathered themselves and headed over towards the line to buy tickets, occasionally glancing back over their shoulders at Inuyasha, who glared at them murderously…at least until they finally stopped looking his way. Then a slow grin found its way up his lips as he darted off in search of his next victims.

Several more times he snuck up on unsuspecting people in much the same fashion, lurking in the shadows while planning his timing just right so that when his chosen prey turned around he would be standing right behind them, snarling in their faces. Nobody could understand how he could move so quietly, so quickly, but his fellow monsters observed in amusement as his subtle stalking technique worked every time. Several times Inuyasha even made the other guests laugh as he'd pick one unsuspecting victim and trail them for a minute or two, staying so close behind them that they couldn't help but feel like they were being followed, yet every time they turned around they saw nothing as Inuyasha was able to match their movements flawlessly. They only saw him when he _wanted _them to see him, when they would spin around only to come face to face with his snarling visage.

Finding himself a smart aleck who held himself with an air of being unscarable, Inuyasha growled in the man's face, baring his fangs, only to receive criticism that his makeup wasn't very creative. Growling even louder then, in a decibel quickly nearing what was beyond human capability, Inuyasha knew he couldn't risk doing anything to tip the guy off to the fact that his 'uncreative' makeup wasn't really makeup at all, though he had no problem cutting it close. Folding his ears back, an action that could theoretically be excused with electronics, the hanyou made a show of inhaling deeply before pulling his lips back in a wicked smile, showing off his gum line and just how 'realistic' his uncreative fangs really looked. Then he grumbled in a deep, smoker's voice no fifteen-year-old should be able to replicate, "Good…_don't _be afraid yet. It will make your scent of terror much more potent when it finally comes." He then lifted his right hand, his claws shining in the outdoor lighting as he slowly curled his fingers inward, loudly popping every knuckle. With the man's scent spiking with both uncertainty and nervousness, he pretended to blow off Inuyasha's display before turning and heading towards the nearest concession stand at a much faster pace than what was necessary.

Inuyasha watched him go, his predatory eyes narrowed calculatingly when the man dared gaze over his shoulder in the inu-hanyou's direction. Inuyasha didn't know it, but his eyes caught the parking lot lighting just right in that moment, reflecting back at the man with a demonic red sheen. The man quickly turned back around and didn't glance in Inuyasha's direction a second time. Another youkai with red eyes currently prowling the parking lot came up on the hanyou in that moment, though Inuyasha easily heard Yuka's approach.

"That was pure genius." she complemented, unsurprised when Inuyasha didn't start at the sound of her voice coming from right behind him. He always seemed to know when one of them was approaching.

Turning around casually, Inuyasha flashed Kagome's friend a cocky smirk before replying with his trademark "Keh."

"Guys, we've got company." the lizard youkai said in that moment, coming up to them from the side and pointing towards a group of older students heading their way.

"High schoolers…" Yuka groaned.

Inuyasha's ears flicked at her tone. He knew what high school was, it was the next level of schooling after their own; he had _better _remember _that_ much with as often as Kagome yammered on about her entrance exams all the time. So these boys were a couple years older than most everyone else, Inuyasha realized in that moment, a growing feeling of protectiveness bubbling in his gut at the way the seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds sneered in their direction. He didn't think of Kagome's classmates as children in need of protection, in that regard. Back in his time so called 'kids' were deemed adults at ages even younger than Kagome and her friends. He thought of Kagome as an adult, albeit a young one, and Sango and Miroku, who were only a little bit older, were in the same age group as the approaching high school students, though the slayer and monk were most definitely adults in his world. No, he didn't think of Kagome's classmates as children in need of protecting, though if the approaching 'high schoolers' saw them as children, and as such victims for bullying, then he would protect them all the same.

"Lookie here, guys. A kiddie fair." one of said high school students proclaimed as they entered the lot, his buddies snickering behind him.

_People must be considered 'children' in Kagome's time longer 'cause it takes 'em longer to mature without all the hardships of my century_… the hanyou hypothesized, thinking of all the spoils of Kagome's world that meant that nobody had to work anywhere near as hard as they did in his century. Kagome had certainly matured a great deal since first entering his world and beginning their journey together; there was just something about facing a world of battle and bloodshed that forced young people to grow up in a hurry, he supposed. Deciding to give the high schoolers a wide birth and observe them from afar, Inuyasha knew that just because he didn't think of Kagome's school friends as children, that didn't mean they didn't need protecting if the older teens decided to cause any trouble. He knew that, technically, the older students before him were also considered children in Kagome's century, and if there was one thing he had learned back when _he'd _been a child it was that kids could be even crueler than adults.

Heading up to a snack booth and buying themselves each a soda, the five high school boys continued to talk amongst themselves, loudly, over how boring and pointless the haunted house was.

"It's even lamer than I remembered." one of them said, gesturing to the building behind them.

"Well if you don't like it then you don't have to be here." one of the junior high students waiting in line for a soda replied in disgust.

"What did you say?" one of the high school boys asked in return, an edge to his voice as he began walking towards the junior high kid.

"You leave him alone!" Yuka snapped right away, momentarily breaking character to come to her classmate's defense as she stomped towards the bullies.

Relaxing his posture, the high school boy eyed Yuka up and down, whistling appreciatively, which had the fifteen-year-old wrapping her arms around herself in a subconscious gesture of self-preservation.

"Well, lookie what we have hear." he smirked, glancing back at his buddies who all laughed in agreement. "And what are you supposed to be, little girl?" he teased.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she replied defiantly, baring her fangs.

Inuyasha had to give it to the girl, she had spunk, though his ears were trained fully in their direction to make sure the situation didn't escalate out of control. Despite the boy's initial and somewhat suggestive commentary, the inu-hanyou could detect no sexual arousal from any of the males. It was more as if they considered Yuka synonymous with their own annoying little sisters.

"Don't make me laugh." the seventeen-year-old said then, announcing, "Your thousand-yen wig is _almost _as bad as your five-hundred-yen fangs. And those flea market contacts? Please."

Bristling, Yuka demanded, "If you're going to act like this then you can just leave."

"Now now…" he soothed patronizingly. "We are paying customers, after all, so you had _better_ be nice to us."

True to their word, and much to Yuka's – and everyone else's – dismay, the group of high school boys proceeded to buy tickets for entry into the maze.

_Oh well, there's one every year…_ the schoolgirl thought in regard to there always being at least one group of people who acted like total jerks in the maze, talking as if it, and indeed the entire school fair, was nothing but one big joke. In fact, she was actually a little surprised that they hadn't had any such groups the previous two nights, though of course Halloween night was always by far the busiest. So long as they _were _paying customers, and so long as they didn't cause any real trouble, Yuka knew there was nothing any of the supervising teachers would do to force the boys to leave. It was better to just humor them until they got bored and left on their own.

Waiting in line to get into the maze, the seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds continued to talk amongst themselves, reminiscing, in a derogatory way, about their experiences with the maze of the previous year, and the year before that, and the year before that. Apparently, even when they had been in junior high themselves, the maze had still been totally lame, and only the biggest losers of the whole school had actually signed up to work at the thing.

Waiting in line behind the high school kids was a small group of three boys all around Souta's age. Rolling their eyes and casting each other annoyed glances, they were not too thrilled about following behind the high schoolers in the maze. They were already envisioning being unable to escape their unwanted commentary during the entire experience. Because there were so many more people present for the third and final night of the haunted house, they were sending separate groups of people in much closer together than they had been the previous two nights, everyone working within the maze having to work double-time to make sure that their pranks still reached every visitor as they were meant to. There was simply no time for dillydallying with their line as large as it was, expanding across nearly the entire parking lot.

As the high school boys came up to the front of the line and handed their tickets to the girl working the door, one of them teased her, "Don't work too hard now." as the others all laughed. Biting her tongue, she didn't let them affect her as she collected the last of their tickets, sending them on their way with a feeling of sympathy for her classmates working the maze.

"Uwan!" the eldest boy shouted as they entered the long corridor, earning high-fives from his buddies.

Coming into the room that was done up to look like a private study, another boy shouted, "Oh no! It was all a trick to get us to read!"

As the younger boys entered the maze behind them, they groaned to themselves and vowed not to let the jerks in front of them ruin their night.

Entering the hallway of paintings, the high schoolers talked loudly amongst themselves about how one of those paintings was surely rigged to fall.

"Which one is it? Come on, show yourself!" one of them said.

The fifteen-year-old boy working the trick painting wanted to drop it and show them the bird, but he stayed professional and did his duty, letting the screen slide away to reveal him in his mask, roaring at the older teens who Ooo'd and Aww'd sarcastically. Rolling his eyes behind his mask, he pulled the lever and put his painting pack into position.

Coming into the room with Ayumi lying as a lifeless murder victim on a table, Kagome's school friend had to literally bite the inside of her cheek to keep from scrunching her face into any kind of expression as the high school boys all crowded around her, her serial killer doing an admirable job keeping character since it was actually his job in the maze to yell at people to leave him and his 'girlfriend' alone.

"I like my women more lively, anyway." the eldest high school boy said with a shrug as his group moved on into the room of dots.

"Trip out..." one of them said behind a laugh, waving his hands in front of his face as though he were high.

"Ooo, look at all the pretty colors!" another one snickered.

"Just _what_ was in that can of soda?" a third one asked, feigning a worried edge to his voice as his friends chuckled.

Spotting the camouflaged student as he approached their group, two of the high school boys pointed and faked a terrified scream, running towards the exit while holding their stomachs in laughter, their friends coming up behind them also laughing and talking about how much of a loser that kid had to be if he were even too ugly to play a youkai or ghost. Instead, the school had to cover his entire face with fabric. How sad was that? Entering the spinning tunnel hallway, the boys continued to laugh, waving their hands around in the air as they had fun playing with the effects of the strobe light, again pretending that they were on drugs.

Coming into the coal mine, when the miner paused in his swinging to turn and glance back at the people who had just entered his realm, like an intelligent ghost, one of the boys shouted, "Get back to work! I don't pay you to stand around gawking!"

When the projection of the other ghost miner kicked on, shining against the sidewall, he added, "Like that guy. Now _there's_ a hard worker."

Snickering, they moved on into the chamber of vampires, flirting with the female vampire and accusing the two male vampires of cock-blocking. They were completely oblivious to the three younger boys trailing behind them who kept on trying to let the high school boys get further ahead, though it was nearly impossible with the way the older teens continually slowed down to poke fun at every single thing as they passed.

Entering the tunnel of darkness, one of the boys said "Hold on…" as he made a grab for his cell phone, all five high schoolers laughing as they used the light from their phones to see where they were going. They each ignored it when a fine stream of air blew across their necks, though a couple of the seventeen-year-olds got caught off guard by the shifting floorboards, causing their other friends to snicker.

"Surf's up!" one of the two who'd nearly lost his balance said after a second, easily ignoring how it'd gotten him as he commented on how stupid he thought the shifting floorboard really was.

When the recorded whisper of "I can see you…" played in their ears, the eldest boy grabbed his crotch and said, "Can you see this?" causing his other friends to high-five each other again.

Exiting past the curtain, all five boys cringed at the bright flash that went off in their faces, though they were quick to play it off as they cried out "Light bright!" and "I'm blind!" while chuckling loudly. When the leader of the group walked into the thread he paused for a moment, instinctively wiping at his face.

"Dude, what's the matter?" one of his friends asked in an amused tone.

"Nothing man…" he brushed off quickly, smirking as he grabbed at the thread and added, "For a second there I just had this confused with the spider webs between your mom's legs."

"Oh snap!" another of the boys commented.

"Oh no you didn't." said the boy whose mother had just been insulted, although he was also laughing as he tried to come up with a come back.

Laughing amongst themselves for a moment as they slowly made their way down the 'lame' corridor towards the 'lame' graveyard, they were not expecting anybody to jump out at them right at that moment.

It was all Kagome could do not to laugh herself as she launched herself at the older teens, latching onto the closest one while snarling loudly in his face. Undeniably caught off guard and genuinely surprised, the seventeen-year-old yelled before he could stop himself, an instinctive reaction that proved contagious when his four friends also cried out in that split second it took them to realize what was happening. Then, before they could even decide whether to laugh at themselves in acceptance of having been momentarily 'surprised', or come up with something witty to say to quickly get the loser fake zombie back at her own game, it was the sound of boisterous laughter coming from behind that drew everyone's attention in that moment, as the three elementary school boys who had been trailing behind them the whole time laughed their asses off at having witnessed the high schoolers getting punked by the junior high zombie.

Eyes narrowing, the boy whose arm was still in Kagome's grip yanked himself out of her grasp in that moment to glare back at the three younger boys.

"Just what the hell do you brats think is so damn funny?" he demanded.

"You!" the bravest of the three boys Souta's age replied, still laughing.

Embarrassed, and pissed off because of it, the seventeen-year-old started to take a step back in the grade schoolers' direction, his four friends on his side as they all shot murderous glances at the gulping younger boys, but Kagome's voice in that moment warning "One more step and I'll call a teacher." stilled their feet.

Turning back to glare at the ug-mo covered in latex, one of the high schoolers grinned mischievously before asking sarcastically, "Aren't you guys all supposed to be in costume? How'd they let you in here without any makeup on?"

Rolling her eyes at the weak insult, the miko replied, "Kindly move along or I will _move _you along."

Crossing his arms, he replied, "And if I refuse?"

Ignoring the brief shriek coming from the tunnel of darkness, indicating the pending arrival of even more visitors to her section, Kagome raised an eyebrow at the high schoolers before stepping back towards her pocket in the wall. The older teens all started snickering to themselves, thinking she was tucking herself away in defeat as she'd run out of ideas, until she reemerged with a small walkie-talkie in hand.

"Come on, let's get out of here." one of them said in a bored tone of voice, shooting one last glare in Kagome's direction before heading out of her corridor and into the graveyard beyond.

The three boys around Souta's age all high-fived the miko as they passed, and then fortunately enough of a gap still remained between them and the next group that by the time the next guests made it around to her position, although she could not jump out and surprise them, she was at least able to throw on a snarl that successfully creeped out the young girl accompanied by her parents. Giving Kagome a wide birth with playfully nervous expressions as they made their way past her and into the graveyard beyond, Kagome smirked to herself that she hadn't lost her touch before quickly tucking herself back into her pocket, ready to put those high school jerks out of her mind and get back into the swing of things.

Outside in the parking lot, Inuyasha had been loitering near the exit to the maze, having fun spooking everybody as they exited while secretly waiting for the five high school boys to reemerge. Catching their scents and grinning as he recognized the lingering stench of fear and humiliation mixed in with their sweat, it wasn't hard for the inu-hanyou to figure out that somebody – most likely his Kagome, he thought with a wider grin – had gotten the drop on them. Waiting until they were literally seconds away from exiting, Inuyasha made sure he was off to the side enough that they could not see him as they approached, as he began growling deeply in the pit of his chest at a level far beyond the capacity of human vocal cords. So far he'd been very careful to not overdo it on the whole 'youkai' gig, but he would make an exception for these guys. Especially since nobody else was close enough at the moment to hear him.

"Dude, what the hell is that?" one of the boys asked his friends as they exited the maze. It almost sounded like there was a tiger growling at them.

Whatever it was, the rumbling was so deep that they could almost feel it more than they could hear it. They were not expecting to see the kid in the red kimono suddenly appear in their faces. They remembered seeing Inuyasha before going into the maze, though he'd been keeping to himself before when that redheaded oni chick had decided to get up in their faces for no reason. Of course, she'd been more figuratively in their faces, not the mere two inches away that Inuyasha was in that moment. Instinctively, each of the five high school boys stepped back in surprise when they turned at the exit to see him standing right there in front of them. The deep rumbling stopped in that same instant, and three of the five boys began glancing around for where the hidden speaker was located. It was obvious to them that the junior high punk wanted them to _think _he had actually been growling at them himself, but they weren't that stupid.

"Just what the hell is your problem?" one of them snapped after a moment.

Inuyasha merely raised an eyebrow.

_Heh, bit jumpy are we? Kagome must've gotten 'em good_…

"Who said I had a problem?" he asked casually in his normal timbre before switching his voice up to that deep demonic rumble he was capable of producing. "You'll know if I have a problem." he added in that low grumbling voice that sounded wholly not his own.

Two of the seventeen-year-olds exchanged uncertain glances back and forth, but the other three high schoolers were unimpressed.

Just in that moment, the three younger boys around Souta's age exited the maze behind them, snickering one more time in the older teens' direction before heading off on their own. Inuyasha raised his eyebrow a second time at the younger boys' attitude towards the high schoolers, wondering just what, exactly, had taken place within the maze. His amusement was not lost on the five boys who immediately forgot all about that inhuman growl and the way he'd changed his voice.

"Hmph, losers…" one of them proclaimed in regard to everybody else in general before waving his arm at his companions. "Come on, let's get out of here. This place bites."

Familiar with the slang expression thanks to his experiences with Souta, Inuyasha still chose to comment, "You got that right." as he snapped his jaws at them, his teeth clanking together loudly.

Doing their best to ignore whom they believed to be just another fifteen-year-old punk, the high school boys attempted to regain as much of their pride as they could in that moment as they shrugged past Inuyasha and exited the school grounds, much to the relief of Kagome's classmates who had been observing from afar.

Catching Inuyasha's attention from across the parking lot, Yuka flashed the hanyou a victory sign before getting back to her own duties. While he didn't specifically understand the gesture, he knew it meant that Kagome's friend was pleased that the high school boys were leaving without any additional hassle. Promptly putting the group of punks out of his mind, Inuyasha too got back to his own duties in that moment, which presently consisted of scaring the next group of guests exiting the maze.

For the rest of the night, Inuyasha couldn't have stopped having fun for anything less than Naraku suddenly showing up in Kagome's time. Going back to his original game plan after a while of sneaking up on new arrivals as they bought snacks or tickets for the maze, he continued to have no difficulty with creeping up behind people undetected, much to the amusement of the other guests who could observe his actions from their places in line. He even managed to have fun messing with the younger children without getting reprimanded by anyone's parents for being too mean. One girl, perhaps a tad bit younger than Souta, showed up dressed like a cat. He barked at her, earning himself a moment of laughter from the girl before she quickly played along, hissing and growling in return in a pretty convincing feline fashion, for a human. Learning with Yuka's help – who thought he was wearing special contacts – how to tilt his head just right to capture the light of the parking lot lamps, Inuyasha began deliberately allowing his eyes to glow red as he gazed across the lot at his retreating victims, adding to his demonic appearance even more. There was no short supply of new victims to sneak up on from behind, and a few of the girls closer to Kagome's age who'd acted especially frightened of him he even caught a second time around on their way out of the maze, going back to his temporary post of standing guard by the exit.

He never had any trouble recognizing the scent of a specific person he was looking for as they approached the exit to the maze. It was hot in the makeshift pressboard building, and most of the humans exited smelling of sweat, which amplified everyone's unique scent by more than a hundred times to his nose. Because the visitors were not covered in the chemical smell of latex and makeup, their sweat was all he needed to identify them as they approached his position. Not to mention the left over splash of fear in their scents courtesy of Kagome.

_Kagome…_

Who knew his sweet, innocent, naïve Kagome had such a wicked inner demon lying in wait all this time? He would've thought that this was the type of event that would have appalled her, the miko even going so far as to lecture everyone else on how it wasn't nice to trick people. Not that he could rightfully say he was disappointed in her to learn otherwise. He couldn't speak for everyone when it came to having an inner demon, but considering that he actually _was _half demon, there was definitely a wickedness within Inuyasha that was immensely enjoying her school's festivities. Only because it wasn't real, of course. There was no danger of him suddenly getting the itch to scare innocent people back in his own time. Not where they knew he really _was_ a monster, and they really _would_ be afraid of him. The one thing Inuyasha wanted above all else was to belong, to be accepted and treated no differently from anyone else. But he had that here in Kagome's time, while pretending to be the monster that he secretly really was. Nobody thought he was a real hanyou, or youkai, or oni, or any other type of being other than a normal human kid no different from themselves who was merely dressed in costume to participate in their holiday celebration. He was one of them, and it was all thanks to Kagome.

With the evening finally coming to a close, Inuyasha disappeared with his fellow cast members back inside the school, not immediately finding Kagome but knowing precisely where she'd be. Sure enough, he saw her approaching the girl's locker room not two minutes later, and giving her a brief nod in greeting, he leaned back against the wall to await her reappearance sans latex. Kagome took her time getting clean this time around, since they had plans to walk the town for an hour or two and she didn't want to torture his sensitive nose. She didn't go so far as to hop in the shower in the locker room, but she had brought a washrag from home that she used in that moment to rinse her face with more thoroughly than the cheap bathroom paper towels from the dispenser. She had also packed a change of clothes other than her school uniform, changing into a simple yukata that matched Inuyasha's traditional dress. It was yellow with red and green floral accents, something her mother kept around for shrine festivities.

Reemerging from the locker room once she deemed herself presentable, bag slung over her shoulder, Inuyasha gave her his silent approval by visibly sniffing in her direction before jerking his head downward in a satisfactory nod. She would still need a shower in the morning before returning with him to his time, but it was good enough for now. Kagome already had the perfect excuse for tomorrow's absence all planned out, too. What Inuyasha didn't know while he'd been working the parking lot was that Kagome had started acting sickly in the maze. Not so much that it ruined the effect for any of the guests, but as she chased them through the graveyard she would occasionally pause and hold her stomach. None of her victims had ever looked back so nobody saw the gesture except for Eri and the other students dressed up as ghosts in the graveyard and valley beyond. She had also acted a little worn ragged in the locker room both earlier that evening as she'd changed into her costume, and especially right then as she'd changed back out of it, breathing deeply a few times and holding her stomach as though she were trying to avoid throwing up. When her friends asked her if she was okay, she made a show of winching behind a fake smile as she assured them she was fine; their worried expressions had clearly indicated their reluctance to believe her, though they didn't push the issue. The excuse come tomorrow morning would be tummy troubles caused by overexcitement, made all the worse by her refusal to take it easy on the third and final night, wanting to give 110% on Halloween night despite having already started to feel a little under the weather. With her history, nobody would doubt it.

Exiting the school, Kagome wasn't surprised to see how deserted the lot had become. There was no reason for any of the crowds to hang around once the snack booths were closed, and Kagome had already known she'd been the last one out of the locker room because she'd taken so long getting cleaned up. It was worth it, though, for Inuyasha's sake. True, it was nearing one in the morning, but that just meant that the Trick or Treaters had gone to bed. The main streets of Tokyo were still bustling with activity, and they didn't have any specific plans. Kagome just wanted to enjoy some time alone with Inuyasha while he could openly walk the streets of her world without worrying about covering up his hanyou features. He deserved at least that much. Kagome was so glad he had decided to come see her school's haunted maze the day before, which had then led to him deciding to take her up on her offer of actually working the maze with her tonight. If anyone deserved a chance to just be himself and have fun without fear of persecution, it was hands down the silver-haired man currently walking beside her.

A couple of custodians were present, sweeping the parking lot and making sure the haunted house was locked up for the night. They nodded politely in Kagome and Inuyasha's direction as the pair headed across the lot and towards the street. Kagome looked up in surprise when Inuyasha suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

"What is it?" she asked, a slightly worried edge to her tone, though she was mostly just curious.

"We've got company." he told her, nodding his head in the direction of the sidewalk ahead of them, where a group of five teenage boys could be seen approaching their position.

Groaning under her breath, Kagome honestly didn't want to deal with it and thought it would best for them to just turn back and head in the other direction, crossing the parking lot to head down the street on the other side, but it was too late to avoid being spotted by the high schoolers who instantly recognized Inuyasha's 'costume' as they advanced on the junior high school.

Their pride wounded, it had been the seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds' intentions to head back to the haunted house after hours to exact some revenge. Carrying a pair of bolt cutters as well as a couple of hammers, they had planned on breaking into the maze and completely demolishing it, making the deconstruction job for tomorrow's clean-up crew a thousand times worse as they planned on strewing the inside guts of the maze across the entire parking lot. It would've been awesome, books from the 'study' ripped and torn from being thrown against the pavement when those needed to be put back in the school's library, every decoration they planned on saving for next year's Halloween shattered into dozens of pieces. The coffins smashed, the black and strobe lights stolen, there was no way the school would've still turned a profit after all of the extra expenses they had planned to deliver… plans that had been immediately shot to hell upon spotting Kagome and Inuyasha down by the edge of the street.

_What the hell is that punk still doing here? And why is he still dressed like a freak? _one of the older boys thought as he spotted the inu-hanyou.

_What are those guys doing back here? _Inuyasha thought in turn, his instincts on alert as they warned him about the malicious tinge to the high schoolers' auras.

Turning back and heading across the lot in the other direction despite knowing that they'd been spotted, Kagome hoped the high school boys were merely walking back the way they'd come on their way home, and that they would pass by her school and perhaps shout a comment or two but otherwise leave them alone. She didn't want her special night with Inuyasha interrupted by any more of their foolishness.

Unfortunately, the miko's wish wasn't granted when both she and Inuyasha clearly heard one of the boys call out, "Hey, freak! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Inuyasha instantly stiffened beside her, but discreetly reaching for his hand and giving it a quick squeeze, Kagome whispered, "Remember, we're not in your world."

Her words calmed him on more than one level. They were not in his world; they were in Kagome's world, on Halloween night, where everyone, including those bastards, thought that his demonic features were merely a costume. They had not meant the term 'freak' as strongly as the people of his world did whenever they called him that horrible name. But even more than that, he needed the reminder that they were not in his world to still his hand from knocking some sense into them. After all, he had actually given his name to one of the teachers who had added him to the list of volunteers, acknowledging himself as a worker at Kagome's school, and while the haunted house was closed now, he was sure it still probably wouldn't go over too well if it were revealed that he had later attacked some of their guests on the school grounds. Kagome's teacher knew that he was a friend of hers…he wouldn't do anything to get Kagome in trouble with her superiors.

Choosing not to acknowledge the high school boys at all, Inuyasha's ears lowered when next another one of them called out, "Hey, loser! We're talking to you!"

Their voices were louder. They were getting closer.

Kagome glanced around them and cursed under her breath at the sudden absence of the two custodians that had greeted both she and Inuyasha upon exiting the school. The parking lot was clean. They had either headed around to the main lot and gotten in their cars and left, or perhaps one or both of them had headed back inside the school for something, but either way that wouldn't really help her and Inuyasha in that moment. Not that she honestly thought the two of them _needed _any help. They'd faced down hundreds of bloodthirsty youkai in the Sengoku jidai. Dealing with a few egocentric high school boys would be a nuisance at best. Still, it was a nuisance she had been hoping to avoid.

"Hey!" one of the eighteen-year-olds said from almost directly behind them.

Mentally sighing, Kagome spun around in that moment with a huge fake smile on her face.

"Hi! Can we help you with something?"

With Inuyasha turning around as well, he crossed his arms as he glared at the high schoolers. Wiser men would have recognized the undisguised threat in his gaze.

"I'm sure you can help me with a lot of things, sweetheart." the older teen continued, sending Kagome a seductive wink that had the miko's skin crawling in disgust.

Growling and stepping protectively in front of Kagome, Inuyasha barked out, "Just what do you guys want?"

Brandishing their weapons, the high schoolers with hammers chuckled darkly as they slowly swung the tools, softly hitting their open palms with obvious intent. Kagome gasped.

"We _had _been planning on having a little fun in your maze there. But since you and your whore are still here, we'll just have a little fun with you, instead."

"What the hell did you just-" Inuyasha started, only to get cut off as the girl beside him exploded with, "We're not afraid of you! If you don't get off of school property right now then I'm calling the police!"

The high school boys merely smirked to themselves in amusement of her empty threat, until one of them thought he recognized her voice, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Oh no way!" he declared, earning curious glances from his friends as well as Inuyasha. "You're that zombie bitch!" he added, causing the other four high school boys to jerk their heads back in her direction, giving her appearance a reassessment.

"It _is _her!" another one declared.

Unafraid, Kagome stepped aside to no longer be partially hidden by her companion, squaring her shoulders in determination as she proudly declared, "That's right, I'm the zombie that scared you _boys_ in the maze...and got you laughed at by ten-year-olds! What're ya gonna do about it?"

If the high schoolers had been birds, Inuyasha mused that in that moment, all five of them would have shaken their bodies in indignation, ruffling out their feathers in agitation. Bristling as they were, it came as no surprise to the hanyou when they responded to what they deemed as a challenge issued by the miko with violence.

"Stupid bitch!" one of them shouted, reaching for one of the rocks in the landscaping island beside him, as they stood next to one of the trees planted in a breaker in the parking lot.

Throwing the rock, which was about the same size as a baseball, in Kagome's direction, it took all five high schoolers by complete surprise when Inuyasha's hand shot out and caught the rock before it could strike Kagome's abdomen. The girl didn't even flinch, as if never having feared for a moment that the rock would hit her.

"Bastard…" Inuyasha growled low in his throat, squeezing the rock in his hand until it cracked under the pressure, breaking up into smaller pieces which he then let drop to the pavement.

"No way…" the boy who'd thrown the rock whispered in shock, knowing it had not been a Halloween prop.

"Dude…what the hell…" another of the boys questioned more to himself, taking an uncertain step back as Inuyasha deliberately tilted his head so that eyes caught the light, glowing red.

"Now…" he said slowly, his voice deep and gravely, "I have a problem."

"Let's get out of here!" the youngest of the high school boys cried out before turning and running back to the street, uncaring that his other friends were not yet following after him.

"I suggest you take his advice." Kagome said in that moment, nodding her head in the general direction of the escapee.

"What…what the hell _is _he?" one of the boys asked Kagome, glancing his eyes briefly in the hanyou's direction.

"My friend and my guardian." she answered simply, her words touching Inuyasha's heart.

"But what…" the high schooler started again only to pause, feeling uncertain at the way the youkai suddenly grinned at him, baring his fangs.

Taking a cue from one of the few movies he had actually let Souta talk him into watching with him once upon a time, despite not having understood much of anything that'd been going on in the story, the hanyou smirked as he spoke up with, "I could tell you…" Tilting his head from side to side and snapping his neck loudly, he then shot the four remaining boys a menacing glare as he added, "But then I'd have to _kill_ you."

To really drive his point home he lifted his hand in that moment, curling his claws inward as he charged his youki for a mild _Iron Reaver _attack, having no intention of letting his blades of youki free but merely wanting to create the glow of energy around his fingertips.

"Uh…th-that's okay. Never mind." the high schooler answered, lightly smacking one of his friends' arms as he said, "Come on!"

Inuyasha and Kagome both watched in amusement as the four remaining high school boys all practically fell over each other in their attempt to catch up to their fifth companion who was already halfway up the block by that point.

Chuckling quietly, Inuyasha allowed his youki to recede back within himself, the energy for his pending demonic attack dissipating harmlessly.

"That was beautiful." Kagome said in that moment, a chuckle in her own voice.

"Not as much as you." Inuyasha replied before thinking, his eyes widening and a light blush dusting his cheeks as Kagome arched a questioning brow at him. "Uh…I-I mean, w-with how you stood up to them, not being afraid, and whatever."

Smirking, Kagome decided to go easy on her suddenly flustered companion, adding, "Yeah, but that show with your youki? Not to mention the way you caught that rock and crushed it. There's nothing I could've done to compare to that."

Ears wiggling a bit, he asked for clarification, "You're not mad? That I did a 'youkai' thing?"

"Nah…" she waved off. "Those jerks deserved a good spooking, and even if they tell somebody, who's going to believe them? Besides, do you really think they're going to admit to anyone that they threw a rock at me? I'm not worried."

"You didn't even flinch."

"I knew you'd catch it."

Her simple words meant more to him than Inuyasha figured she even realized, her unwavering faith in him more important than any other type of compliment that could have been delivered. Smiling down at the miko beside him and thinking about just how beautiful she really was, especially in her traditional dress, Inuyasha broke the silence that was slowly stretching between them by asking, "So…which way did you want to go?"

Now that the high schoolers were no longer around, they headed back to the north end of the lot like they had originally planned, turning right when they reached the street, heading in the opposite direction from where the high school boys had gone. Heading into a fairly busy part of Tokyo, Inuyasha marveled at the sights all around him, the streets suddenly crowded with people dressed in every manner of costume he could think of, and several that he never would have thought of in a million years. There were monsters, just like at Kagome's school, though even more professionally done up. Then there were also several women not that much older than Kagome that were clad in next to nothing, a wide variety of revealing outfits that made the miko's school skirt look like hakama in comparison. Besides the monsters and temptresses, there was also a vast assembly of completely bizarre creations, things that made absolutely no sense to him though he didn't even bother trying to figure them out. Being out there and seeing all of the crazy sights was definitely a new experience for the hanyou, and one that he was honestly glad that Kagome had been willing to share with him.

Of course, truth be told, walking the streets of downtown Tokyo at one in the morning on Halloween night was a completely new experience for the miko, as well, but Kagome's mother had been made aware of her plans for showing Inuyasha around for a while after the maze, and since her daughter was with the hanyou Mrs. Higurashi wasn't worried, knowing that Inuyasha would never let anything happen to her. As dangerous as the streets of Tokyo could theoretically become at night, the elder Higurashi woman knew that it was nothing compared to her daughter's journeys in the Sengoku jidai. How could she rightfully enforce any kind of a curfew for Kagome whenever the girl happened to be in their century when the fifteen-year-old regularly traveled the wild countryside of five hundred years in the past? Kagome was a big girl.

The two walked together in companionable silence for a little over half an hour, taking in the sights around them with wonder and amazement. Coming upon a street fair of sorts, Kagome revealed that Inuyasha wasn't the only one whom her mother had secretly given money to, as she proceeded to buy some treats for both Inuyasha and herself, not that the hanyou was complaining when his nose started twitching a mile a minute at all of the various smells of sugary foods. Earlier while he'd been working he'd honestly been too caught up in his gig as a scary monster to worry about whether or not he should indulge in any of the available confections, so now that he was no longer working and was actually one of the guests, he definitely didn't mind it when Kagome handed him something sweet while assuring him that he'd like it. A few people glanced there way on occasion, probably wondering what the junior high kids were doing out so late by themselves, but nobody gave them any trouble as Kagome continued to show Inuyasha around, explaining various things to him when he began asking her with childlike curiosity what some of the things around them were, or what some of the other people's costumes were supposed to be.

Staying out for another forty five minutes or so, listening to the music that was being pumped into the air by the nearby bar and nightclub while continuing to try all of the different, unique snack items that were available, and generally just having fun people watching, Inuyasha finally decided that it was probably time to start heading home when his companion let out a tongue curling yawn.

"Tired?" he asked behind a chuckle.

"Mmm..." Kagome replied sleepily before shaking her drowsiness free. "I'm fine." she assured him then, adding, "Halloween only comes once a year, I don't want you to miss out on anything."

"I'm fine…" he answered, repeating her words back to her. Only he really meant it. He could tell that Kagome was struggling not to fall asleep on her feet, and they had to get back to his world the next morning at a relatively early hour if they wanted any hope of getting to the next village before nightfall. He didn't need to stay out any longer…everything she'd already shown him, everything she'd already _done _for him, was more than he had ever dared to dream.

Finally agreeing to call it a night, Kagome pulled Inuyasha aside for a moment when they came across an all-night convenience store, wanting to get herself something to drink after all of the sticky junk food they'd just inhaled over the last hour. Entering the small shop with a ding at the door, Kagome headed straight back for the soda coolers, Inuyasha loyally trailing behind her. There were far too many scents in the small shop, so he wanted to keep Kagome in his sights, otherwise he'd lose her scent if she headed even one aisle over away from him. Making her selection, the pair headed back up to the front of the store, which was also decorated for Halloween with silly spider webs hanging above the cash register area, and little plastic or stuffed Halloween themed toys scattered around within 'impulse buy' grabbing distance. A small teddy bear dressed up as a vampire with a Dracula cape and fangs caught Kagome's attention in that moment, and she paused on her way to the register to gaze at the novelty plush.

_They want __that__ much for the stupid thing? _she thought in disgust, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of overpriced holiday souvenirs. Like it was really all that expensive for the manufacturers to sew on little fake fangs and a cape, sheesh.

Setting her purchases down on the counter, Kagome reached for her money and was mildly embarrassed when she realized she didn't have enough to get the two extra large sodas, having not really kept track of her spending at the street fair concession stands.

"You need more?" Inuyasha asked her, reaching into his robes in that moment to reveal the fact that he had some money of his own.

"Let me guess, Mama?" Kagome asked, smiling up at him as she took what she needed to complete her purchase while he merely shrugged, tucking the rest of her mother's money back inside his suikan.

Turning and heading for the door after completing her transaction, Kagome didn't notice it at first when Inuyasha slowed in his move to follow her, his eyes lingering for a moment on the teddy bear that had previously captured her attention.

"Girls love teddy bears." the clerk behind the counter oh-so-helpfully pointed out in that moment, knowing that the kid dressed in red had a pouch full of cash.

Inuyasha couldn't decide what to do. Did Kagome want it? She had been looking at it, after all, though he couldn't discern her reaction with all of the mixed scents in the small store. Could he trust what the shop-keep said? The guy was probably just trying to make a sale. But one thing Inuyasha knew without a doubt: after all that Kagome had done for him, she deserved a little something in return, and she _did_ have other stuffed animals on display in her room. He felt a little guilty spending her mother's money, but on the other hand he was spending it on Kagome, and with the way Mrs. Higurashi had insisted when originally handing him the cash, he somehow doubted that she would even accept it back if he tried to give it to her in the morning. Agreeing to make the purchase, Inuyasha gave the store clerk the correct amount of money, remembering his brief math lesson with Souta from the day before. Of course, his inexperience with the average price of items in their world meant that Inuyasha had no idea he had grossly overpaid for a simple little teddy bear, but that was what made the store clerk's smile all the brighter as he handed Inuyasha his change while commenting "Happy Halloween!"

"Keh."

Exiting the store with a ding Inuyasha was immediately confronted by a frantic Kagome.

"There you are! I didn't realize you weren't behind me and then I couldn't find you."

Ears drooping a bit, he muttered something that sounded like an apology for having worried her.

"I just…" he started before pausing, unsure of what to say.

"What were you doing in there?" she asked with curiosity lacing her voice, the look in her eyes turning more amused by the moment as Inuyasha's cheeks continued to darken. Had he spotted the adult magazines or something?

"Here." he said then, shoving something at her that she reached out to grasp on impulse before realizing what it was.

_He bought me the vampire teddy bear? _

Gazing helplessly at the unwanted item in her hands, Kagome couldn't help feeling guilty for the way she'd paused to look at it in the store, clearly having given Inuyasha the wrong impression.

She wasn't giving him the wrong impression in that moment, however, as his ears lowered to his head at the way she held the item, clearly not adoring it as the store clerk had implied she would.

"You don't like it." he stated. It wasn't a question.

Eyes snapping up to meet his troubled gaze, Kagome felt guilty for a whole new reason then. Deciding to be completely honest for once and not tiptoe around her feelings, she admitted, "I would not have bought it for myself, but that you actually thought of me, that you wanted to buy me something as a gift, that means more to me than you know. Because you thought I wanted it and got it for me, I love it."

Holding the teddy bear to her chest, Kagome smelled of nothing but honesty and gratitude. It was true, she had never been partial to novelty teddy bears, but she was completely thrown for a loop that Inuyasha had thought to buy her a present. She would cherish it forever.

"Do you…really mean that?" he asked her shyly.

Nodding in the affirmative, Kagome replied, "I wish I had something for you in return."

He stared at her, his expression almost akin to horror.

"What are you _talking _about? You've done so much!" he blurted before thinking. Quickly deciding that he could dare to be honest for the time being since it was just the two of them, Inuyasha added, "This whole night, this whole _day_…hell, even letting me share your bed last night. You don't know what it means to me, that you treat me as an equal."

_Well, if he's going to open up like that, then I guess I should be completely honest, too_… the miko thought in that moment, confessing, "You're not just an equal to me."

With a light dusting of pink staining _her_ cheeks for a change, she admitted shyly, "You…you're very special to me."

Instantly catching on to her hidden meaning, Inuyasha softened his eyes as he gazed at her lovingly. "You're very special to me, too."

Smiling up at him, Kagome found herself speechless in her love for him in that moment, as she silently offered him her hand, which he accepted, as they turned and began the journey home. Walking back to the shrine hand in hand, the miko and hanyou both continued to cast adoring glances in each other's directions, their beverages forgotten in her bag as neither one wanted to release their hold on the other even for something like taking a drink of soda, while she proudly carried her teddy bear in her free hand.

Catching sight of the shrine steps in the distance, Kagome finally gathered the courage to speak, knowing that anything she wanted to say needed to be said now before they lost their privacy.

"I understand…" she began then, "…if you don't want to really talk about this time here, with me, with the others when we go back. Miroku-sama does like to tease."

"Keh…stupid bouzu." Inuyasha agreed before lightly squeezing Kagome's hand, causing the miko to glance his way.

Shifting his eyes sideways to look her way as well, he offered the girl a brief smile before averting his eyes forward once more. It was now or never.

"I…" _know how you feel about me_, he wanted to say. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Kagome, I…" _love you too_… "Damn it." he muttered quietly to himself.

Kagome could hear the raw emotion in his voice, and her heart fluttered lightly in her chest at the prospect of what he was trying to say to her. Could it be? She didn't want to get her hopes up, but if she was right, then it was something that she had been wanting to say to him for a long time now, herself. Reaching the bottom of the shrine steps, Kagome slowly came to a stop, relieved when Inuyasha didn't seem to be in any hurry to ascend the concrete stairway, either. Nervously fiddling with the strap of her bag, Kagome knew her private night alone with Inuyasha was about to come to a close, so if she wanted to say anything to him while it was still just the two of them, it had to be now.

"Inuyasha…" she began after a moment, though that was also where her voice seemed to escape her.

The hanyou's eyes met hers in that instant, a quiet hopefulness shimmering in his amber depths.

_Damn it all_… the miko mentally cursed at being caught up in the same affliction that had stilled Inuyasha's tongue moments ago. She was sure they both knew what they each wanted to say, so why couldn't she just _say _it?

"I love you!" she blurted out of nowhere, gasping and releasing his hand to slap her hand over her mouth.

_Real smooth… _she inwardly criticized. _Way to capture the moment_.

Thinking of just blurting it out was one thing, but actually doing it was something else entirely. _Now what? _she worried mildly.

While Kagome was pretty sure that Inuyasha was already aware of her feelings, and she was also pretty sure that he shared her feelings on at least some level, she also knew that Kikyou was still number one in his life, and because of that it wasn't really her place to go shoving her emotions in his face like she'd just done. Still, what was said was said, and she would neither regret it nor take it back. She could only wait to see how he would respond.

Even caught by surprise as he was by the forwardness of her confession, Inuyasha could not say that he was truly surprised by her words. Easily recognizing the uncertainty shining behind Kagome's chocolate orbs as she bit her bottom lip nervously, Inuyasha couldn't help but notice just how kissable her lips looked in that moment, all glossy and smelling of cherry. Chuckling to himself that Kagome was truly braver than he, since she had managed to say what he found he could not, the hanyou suddenly realized that he could at least _show _her how he felt, as he gently placed his hands on either side of her face.

"Wha…" was all she managed to get out at the sight of him closing the gap between them, and then his lips were on hers, her eyes drifting shut as her arms lifted of their own accord to wrap around his neck.

"Me too." he answered simply after pulling away, her arms falling weightlessly to her sides, the small vampire teddy bear still held tightly in her grasp.

Kagome's head was a jumble of thoughts, the first one coming to mind being "What about-" but he silenced her with a finger against her lips.

"Those feelings are a memory. I can never forget about Kikyou, but she is my past. _You _are my future."

Eyes tearing up, Kagome practically threw herself into Inuyasha's arms, and chuckling, the hanyou eagerly returned her embrace, wrapping his arms around her for all she was worth.

"You're right that I won't want to talk about this in front of the others." Inuyasha said after a moment, giving her a little squeeze, "But just know that even if I say or do something kinda pricky at some point, it's just 'cause I'm an idiot. My feelings ain't gonna change."

Laughing, Kagome wiped at her tears before nodding her understanding.

"Well, come on." she said after a moment, grabbing for his hand again and attempting to tug him up the shrine steps.

"Hold on." he said, not letting her budge him.

Kagome lifted an eyebrow at him as he held his arms out in an obvious gesture. Getting herself into position, she squeaked in excitement as he scooped her up into his arms before launching them in a single bound up to the top of the shrine steps. He had made sure no one was around to witness the act.

"I wanted to do that last night, too. Stupid human body." he grumbled playfully while placing her back on her feet.

"I will never get tired of that." she assured him behind a smile, Kagome always loving the feel of flying whenever he carried her, though he usually never carried her bridal style unless they were dodging an enemy's attack or she'd been severely injured in some way. Showing off his powers just for the fun of it, just to get them to the top of the stairs, that was a side of Inuyasha she hoped to see more often in the future.

Sneaking into the house, Inuyasha's nose and ears assured him that this time the rest of her family really was asleep, as they tiptoed their way up to Kagome's bedroom. Obediently turning with his eyes closed while she changed into her pajamas, Inuyasha was lost in his memories of sharing her bed the night before when her tiny whisper that it was okay for him to turn around reached his ears. Pulling Tetsusaiga from his obi, Inuyasha made to sit down against the wall below her window before Kagome's hand on his arm stopped him, his eyes meeting hers with a look of surprise.

"Now don't start that again." she insisted quietly.

"But…but last night I was human."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"So?"

Was he going to dare accusing her of thinking of him differently in his human body versus his hanyou one? Inuyasha wasn't quite _that _stupid, although it was still a valid argument for a different reason.

"Like you said…I needed the rest last night. This time I don't need to sleep."

"And what if I said I simply want to share my bed with you because I want to, whether you truly need the sleep or not?"

He just stared at her, shocked at her sudden brazenness, though also incredibly touched by her admittance.

"I'd say you were a crazy wench." he answered with a half smile, relieved when he saw her smile as well at his words.

"And if I didn't deny it?"

"What if I told you…" he countered then, "…that the reason I'm hesitant to share your bed is because it makes me want more than sleep?"

It was Kagome's turn to be shocked by his admittance, then, not so much in that he _had _such desires, because she could certainly understand _that_, but simply that he had actually managed to confess to them.

"One thing at a time," Kagome said after a moment, adding, "First we have to find and take care of Naraku and purify the jewel, not to mention Kikyou needs her peace. I'm not so cruel as to deny you your right to whatever goodbyes await you two when it is finally her time to leave this world."

Inuyasha nodded his greater understanding, everyone knowing that it was not the undead miko's intention to continue her false existence past the fall of Naraku. She wanted only to see to his destruction, and then she wanted peace, and Inuyasha would do whatever it took to give her that, within reason. No longer did he wish to join her in Hell, but no longer did Kikyou wish to drag him with her into the afterlife, anyway. That had been when she had truly believed him to be her murderer and she had been seeking her revenge. Kikyou now knew that their enemy was Naraku, and she also knew that it was not yet Inuyasha's time to die. But as the hanyou thought about Kagome's words, it dawned on him that while she was most definitely right in that any such relationship between the two of them had to wait until after their other responsibilities were taken care of, she had basically stated that once their other responsibilities _were _taken care of, she would be willing to…

"You…you're not telling me no?" he asked, completely shocked. For some reason, even with having known of her feelings for him for some time now, he had never really put two and two together with emotional love and physical love, at least in the sense that Kagome would be willing to be with him in such a way. He knew that _his _emotional love and desires for physical love were linked together; he knew that intimately, in fact. But the fact that Kagome would actually be willing to _be_ with him, as a hanyou? Even as he knew that she didn't think differently of him for his mixed blood, he had always figured that even somebody as pure as Kagome would eventually draw the line _somewhere_.

For once reading his thoughts perfectly through his eyes, Kagome merely offered Inuyasha a gentle smile before assuring him, "I'm not telling you no, I'm just telling you not now."

He nodded, not having any problem with the idea of waiting until the moment was right. In the meantime, however, there no longer seemed to be a reason why they couldn't share the same bedding, since each of them knew that nothing beyond sleep would be taking place, despite certain lingering desires to the contrary, on both their parts. Following Kagome under the covers, then, the miko smiled when Inuyasha tugged her to him, allowing the girl to rest her head against his chest as he wrapped am arm around her shoulder, relishing in the sensation of holding her close.

"Goodnight." Kagome murmured against him, already half asleep.

"Yes, it is."

~ Fin ~

A/N: An _Uwan_, as I have one of the high school boys shouting upon entering the maze, is an invisible monster from Japanese folklore named for the sound it shrieks whenever somebody enters a building possessed by one.


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